


When We Were Little

by TheFuzzyKiwiFruit



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Gen, Humor, OC-centric, Rated for OC's language, Teethrotting friendship, because the Teiko babies are precious, detailed chronology of Teiko years, endgame pairing undecided, from my fanfiction.net account, mild romance?, multichapter story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2018-08-09 04:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 39,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7786402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFuzzyKiwiFruit/pseuds/TheFuzzyKiwiFruit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She hated the outdoors. She hated social events. She hated them with a passion. But most of all, she hated sports. And yet, through the unexplained and odd choices of fate, she becomes the glue that holds five basketball prodigies together, the central hearth at which the Generation of Miracle gather.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally posted on my fanfiction.net account, and while I love the owrks of AO3, I find a severe lack of OC stories for Kuroko no Basuke in particular. So, here I am, sharing this story with you.
> 
> I do try very hard to make OCs good characters, so if you're iffy about original characters in general, I ask that you give this story a chance. Just read two or three chapters and if you still don't like it by then, by all means, leave an unflattering comment.
> 
> Those are all of my opening remarks. Enjoy the story now :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A misleading conversation with Momoi totally gives a hermit-like, nonathletic girl the wrong idea about Teiko Middle School.

"I want to go home."

"Come on, don't be like that, Megu-chan. Isn't this fun?"

"No."

"You didn't like the shop we went to?"

"For the love of God, Momoi, I couldn't even afford anything there. I want to go home, now."

"But we're going to eat next. I'm taking you to this super close place Dai-chan and I go to all the time. It'll be good, I promise. Also, I told you to call me Satsuki. We're friends now, so it's best if we start using our given names."

Megumi made a noise at the back of her throat that sounded like a cross between a quiet but frustrated shriek and a moan of defeat. She walked sluggishly with her head turned away from the other girl as she was dragged by the wrist down a slightly crowded street. "We're not really that close. I've tutored you for a week; that doesn't put us on a first name basis."

"I think it does," the pink-haired girl retorted but with a smile on her face. "And besides, I need to properly thank you for spending your free days helping me with English. You're a good teacher, and I think I'm getting much better."

Megumi wanted to point out that the only reason she accepted a request to do tutoring during the holiday was because she greatly needed the community service hours that were required to get into middle school. Otherwise she would be spending her long holiday staying at home doing things that she actually liked instead of getting up at eight in the morning and walking to Momoi's house to assist her with English.

"I also noticed that you always sit alone in class," Momoi continued talking, weaving her way out of the horde of pedestrians and keeping a firm hold on the other's wrist to prevent her from sneaking away into the crowd. "You need to interact with people more, Megu-chan."

Grey eyes dulling with disinterest, Megumi muttered, "In all honesty, I prefer to be left alone."

Momoi's bright pink orbs focused on her with a hint of worry. "Please don't say that, Megu-chan. Everyone could use some friends so, to pay you back for tutoring me, I'll be your friend. And as your friend, I think you really should go outside more often. It's a nice day, isn't it?"

The temperature was perfect, not too cold and not too hot. The sun shined brightly and a few clouds with in the sky, drifting sleepily to a comfortable soft breeze. For late March, it wasn't extremely humid, and the air was clean and crisp.

It was a nice day, but Megumi couldn't quite appreciate it like her companion. Even on a day like this, she would rather stay indoors. She didn't like going out shopping for there were far too many people for her taste, and she didn't want to go to the park either because she knew that this was the perfect weather for bugs such as bees and wasps to become active.

Momoi and Megumi soon approached a small fast food restaurant with a large sign in the parking lot that depicted a bold "M."

While the pink-haired girl skipped up to the entrance excitedly, the other teal-haired one looked exceedingly unenthusiastic as she slowly shuffled after Momoi.

Holding the door open for Megumi, Momoi smiled cheerfully, "This place is called Maji Burger, and it's western influenced. The milkshakes here are delicious. Don't worry about paying for it; I'll buy you one because they're so good. You just go find a seat somewhere, and I'll order the food, okay?" She gave her a reassuring wink.

"After this, can I go home?" Megumi deadpanned.

Not affected at all by her companion's apathy, Momoi shook her head, "Nope, not yet. After we eat, I'm taking you to the park, and we can hang out for a bit." And with that, she turned and began marching up to the counter to order lunch for herself and her friend.

Megumi exhaled deeply with agitation but obeyed Momoi's command to find a table for the two of them to eat at. The restaurant wasn't large, so she just chose a booth next to a window and sat down, resting her legs which were aching from their walk through town.

Oh, how Megumi hated exercise. Every form of it irritated her, and her wandering through town with Momoi was probably the most physical activity she had had in months.

Everyone was forced to take gym class in elementary school, so Megumi didn't have a choice to not join. That class was a daily torture period for her, until she figured out that the coach wasn't watching them half the time and learned to sneakily slack off while he wasn't looking and dumping water on herself to imitate sweat at the end of each session. It was only because of her picky eating that she didn't become overweight from lack of exercise.

Ever since she graduated from elementary school a couple of months ago, she had relished in the comfort of staying indoors, maybe drawing or reading, and never having to do more physical work than walking around her small house to go to the bathroom or get a light snack.

But not even two weeks into her holiday, she got a letter from her former school telling her that she had yet to fulfill her community service requirements that allowed her to be accepted into a good middle school. And so that was why she was assigned to tutor Momoi Satsuki in order to get rid of all the hours of service to the community that she had neglected to care about for years.

Personally, Megumi thought the idea of school required exercise and community service to be a ridiculous waste of time. She had extraordinary marks in all academic subjects and had been at the top of her class since the third grade. That should be enough, the girl thought bitterly.

"Good schools don't just look at grades, Akechi-chan," a counsellor at her primary school had told her when Megumi said that she didn't want to play a sport. Ever. And she didn't want to do community service either. "Although your grades are impeccable, a middle school will also look at your participation in athletics as well as your overall sense of leadership and initiative. Your grades might get you halfway there, but your times in gym are among the lowest in the entire year. Also, you haven't completed any of your community service hours needed to get into middle school. You have thirty of them left. You'd better get started on them quickly."

Megumi's eyes went half-lidded with annoyance, as she started to calculate in her head how much longer she would have to tutor Momoi before her community service debt would be lifted from her shoulders. Let's see… an hour and a half per day… times seven days… is ten and half hours… So I still have nineteen and a half hours left to go… How many more days is that…

The teal-haired girl's musings were interrupted when Momoi reenter her line of vision wearing an ever cheerful smile and carrying a plastic orange tray with two small milkshakes, an order of fries and two large hamburgers wrapped in red paper. She placed the tray on the table gently before sliding into the seat across from Megumi and grabbing one of the milkshakes.

"I got you a strawberry flavored one, Megu-chan," Momoi said, pushing the other cup toward the girl she was talking to. "I remembered that you accepted strawberry Pocky the other day at my house, so I thought you'd like it."

Megumi sighed with defeat, since she was indeed hungry, and reached a hand out to take the milkshake and placed the large straw in her mouth with uninterested eyes, not really expecting much.

As Momoi picked up her burger and began to unwrap it, she noticed her companion's eyes widen a little as she, Megumi, tasted a bit of the milkshake.

For a moment, Megumi stopped sipping and looked at the cup with mild wonder, before she realized that Momoi had seen her reaction to the surprisingly delicious malt drink. Not wanting the pink-haired girl to know that she had caught her off guard with the milkshake, Megumi quickly tried to keep a straight, apathetic face again, turning her head to the side as she struggled with her facial expression.

But Momoi knew, and only grinned with satisfaction. Feeling proud of herself for finding something that Megumi liked about their outing, she took a bite out of her hamburger, chewed, and swallowed before reaching for the French fries. "So, Megu-chan, which middle school are you going to?" Momoi asked, eager to engage the other girl in some casual conversation as they ate.

With the milkshake straw still in her mouth, Megumi shifted her eyes off to the side, acting as if she wasn't very absorbed in the discussion. "I haven't enrolled anywhere yet."

"Huh?" Momoi's pink irises widened considerably. Then her eyebrows became furrowed a bit at Megumi's answer. "But the school year is starting in less than a month!"

Megumi sipped her milkshake silently and only shrugged.

"Why haven't you enrolled yet?" Momoi pressed on, genuinely shocked that someone would still be unsure of which school to go to when the start of the first term is so close.

Again, Megumi shrugged and said dryly, "I still need to finish my community service hours before I can sign up for a middle school."

"Well, then what school do you plan to go to when you've qualified for middle school?"

"Don't know."

Momoi face-palmed at the other girl's blunt answer. Taking a deep breath and letting it out heavily, the pink-haired girl was sincerely concerned for Megumi and also shocked at her attitude toward school despite her top ranking grades. "If you wait too long, it will be harder to get a spot in a good school. Honestly, I had thought you would have your entire future planned out judging by your finals scores."

That last comment seemed to not be very flattering to Megumi, and she stopped drinking her milkshake to look at Momoi with a dull glare. "In that case, you thought wrong. I prefer to cross that bridge when I get there. And it's too much work going to visit schools to decide which one I would like to go to. If only middle school offered online courses…"

She just doesn't want to get out of her house. Momoi thought with an unimpressed expression, a bead of sweat on her temple, and narrowed eyes as she watched Megumi daydream about getting the rest of her education through online lessons.

"If it helps at all," Momoi said, snapping Megumi out of her musings, "I've visited several middle schools in the area, and Teiko Middle School seems to be the best. My friend, Dai-chan, is going there and I'm probably going too. It'd be great if we could go to the same school and be in the same class again, Megu-chan."

Megumi shifted her eyes to the side again, "Maybe. I don't really care. I would prefer that the school doesn't require a gym class, though. It's such a boring, annoying class."

Upon hearing this, Momoi's eyes lit with excitement and she perked up in her seat a little. "Oh, actually, Teiko doesn't even have a gym class at all. They focus more—"

"Wait." Megumi's slurping of her drink abruptly stopped, and her head snapped in Momoi's direction, for the first time that day giving her complete attention to the pink-haired girl. Did I hear correctly? She wondered hopefully, Could such a heavenly school exist? This is too good to be true. "What did you just say?"

To be frank, Momoi was startled by the sudden passion in her companion's eyes when she mentioned the lack of a gym class at Teiko. "Teiko Middle School doesn't have a gym class," she repeated uncertainly.

Megumi's entire face had gone still, her eyes uncharacteristically wide and mouth slightly hanging open as she took in those words. A few seconds later, her hand went slack and the milkshake fell out of her grasp, but thankfully she had already finished it, so the plastic cup just bounced on the floor a couple of times before rolling to a stop.

At this point, Momoi was kind of scared.

"Are you sure?" was the first thing Megumi said after sitting quietly for a moment. Her voice was completely serious as if they were discussing something much more important than whether or not a middle school had a gym class or not. "Are you absolutely sure, Momoi?"

The pink-haired girl could only nod slowly, not comfortable with the foreign situation of Megumi showing more emotion than just a nonchalant grunt or an indifferent shrug of the shoulder.

"Satsuki," Momoi jumped with a small start when Megumi suddenly used her first name. There was a long, overly dramatic silence before she continued, "I have decided where I must go for middle school," the teal-haired girl stated with an abnormal look of determination in her usually dull gray eyes. "Please help me to enroll as soon as possible at Teiko Middle School."

"Huh?" Momoi tilted her head to the right in confusion, her eyes wide upon hearing Megumi's abrupt decision. "Um..." she tried to smile as if she wasn't affected by her friend's sudden change in demeanor. She must really hate gym class. "Well..." Momoi said hesitantly, "I'll be going there sometime next week to get application forms. Do you want to come with me?"

Megumi shook her head, "No, it's supposed to be cold next week, and I hate the cold."

Momoi frowned, "Shouldn't you make a visit to the school before actually applying for it? What if you don't like—"

Holding up her hand with authority, Megumi stood up from her seat and gave the other girl a very stern look, "Teiko Middle School doesn't have a gym class," she said slowly. "That is all I need to know about the school to know that it is the place for me. I must apply for it before all the spots run out. It is my promised land…"

"O-okay," Momoi replied, still a bit thrown off by the teal-haired girl's passionate hatred toward gym class. Momoi herself didn't really like gym class either, but she didn't loathe it at the level of her friend. Basketball was much more fun to her than taking Physical Education, so she could partially understand why Megumi might dislike gym class. "Do you want me to get an enrollment form for you when I go?"

"Yes, please do that."

Momoi nodded, placing the task on her mental checklist of things to do. She noticed that Megumi's expression had changed from an annoyed frown when they had first entered Maji Burger to a calmer, less agitated, look now. "You know, I didn't know you could be so dramatic, Megu-chan," she said in a teasing tone, referring to Megumi's little speech about her "promised land."

Megumi's eyes snapped from the French fry she was eating to Momoi, and she sputtered with embarrassment at her statement. "No, I wasn't!"

Eyes turning sly as she realized that she had found a new trick, the pink-haired girl continued, "You look like an emotionless, school-obsessed, prideful prick, but you're really just a dork like everyone else. How cute!"

"What are you talking about?!" Megumi gritted her teeth and used her hand to cover the lower half of her face that was starting to tingle with heat. "I'm not a—"

"You can't fool me, Megu-chan," Momoi said cheekily, wagging her index finger under the teal-haired girl's nose. "That look on your face when I told you Teiko didn't have a gym class, I saw that same expression on Dai-chan's face when he visited Teiko too."

Megumi's eyes narrowed and she whipped her head in a direction away from Momoi, still using her hand to cover her nose and mouth. "You keep talking about this Dai-chan, and I don't even know who he is. Would you mind explaining?"

"Don't change the subject, Megu-chan," the other girl sang with a huge grin, catching Megumi's attempt to direct the topic of conversation away from herself. "You know, you're surprisingly easy to tease once people figure out what to tease you about. What other quirks do you have?"

"As if I would tell you," Megumi spat back, but a large amount of her usual sourness was missing as she was focusing most of her attention on hiding her blush or getting rid of it.

Momoi was having way too much fun, "Megu-chan's blush is so bright that I could probably see it from a mile away."

More incoherent sputters and stuttering came from Megumi, and she angrily lowered her hand from her face so that she could fully glare are Momoi with clenched teeth. "Damn it, shut up, Momoi!" was one of the few understandable things she uttered while trying to compose herself.

"Use my first name, and I'll shut up," she offered, her eyes glittering mischievously.

"But I already did a few minutes ago."

"Again!"

"Why!?"

"Because," Momoi said, speaking slowly as if she were talking to a child. "I really do want us to be friends and keep talking to each other after the tutoring lessons stop. You're not as bad as I thought you'd be when I first heard you'd be helping me with English."

"Hey!" Just as Megumi's cheeks began to calm a little bit, that last comment caused them to flare again. "What reason did you have to think you wouldn't like me?"

Momoi shrugged, her expression slowly dropping into a thoughtful look, "You never really talked to anyone in school and when the teacher assigned group projects, you were always the only one who asked if you could work alone. I just assumed you didn't like anyone in the class including me."

Megumi blinked with confusion for a moment as she remembered that she did always work on group projects on her own. Then, for a minute she tried to recall the times when she actually had a partner, but soon realized that there were none.

"I didn't hate everyone in our class," the teal-haired girl explained, but she now understood how it might have seemed that way. "I like to get things done quickly, and I can finish a project faster by myself."

"I guess that makes sense, but everyone thought you hated their guts because when they tried to talk to you, you always answered with short answers like you didn't want to talk to them or something."

"That's how I talk," Megumi growled defensively. "Do you know how many minutes are wasted every year if I took the time to explain my answer instead of just giving it straightforwardly?"

Momoi tilted her head to the side, "I'm curious. How many?"

"Well, depending on what you're saying it could range from thirty to fifty minutes a year. And people also spend a lot of time asking other people questions they don't really care about the answer to, so that's why I never ask those types of questions. If you ask questions only when necessary you'd probably save somewhere between three to four hours every year which—"

Momoi interjected as politely as she could, holding up her hand to stop Megumi from going on about how many hours that would be in a lifetime. "Nevermind, I shouldn't have asked."

Megumi, realizing how much emotion and attention she put into her explanation, abruptly cut off the string of words coming out of her mouth before turning her head in the other direction in awkwardness. "Sorry… forget I said any of that."

Shaking her head, Momoi smiled, "It's alright. Actually, it's good that you're talking more and interacting with me instead of sitting in silence. If you do this more often, you'd have lots of friends in middle school, I'm sure."

Megumi didn't reply immediately and only looked off to the side, her long hair casting a shadow over the top half of her face. "I guess…"

At this point, Momoi was feeling quite proud of the semi-long conversation she managed to hold with the typically uninterested girl and mentally gave herself a pat on the back. "Are you not going to eat your burger?" she asked, gesturing to the burger that was still wrapped up and hadn't been touched.

"I don't eat much. The milkshake was enough."

Momoi made a face that was clearly disapproving of Megumi's lifestyle. "You need to eat more, Megu-chan," she began to lecture like a mother. "You're way too skinny for your age, and it looks really unhealthy. Don't you want to get curves when you get older?"

"No."

"At least go outside or something once a day. Isn't it inconvenient being so short? You'll get taller if you get more sunlight."

"Don't want to."

"So you're going to spend the rest of your life in your house with the curtains drawn and eating only an apple for a meal every day?"

Megumi nodded with a straight face, "That'd be nice, but unfortunately school forces me to get out of my house and feeds me disgusting garbage for lunch, so I'm afraid that won't be possible. Such a pity."

With a groan, Momoi sighed and planted her forehead on the could sense that Megumi was slowly going back to her deadpan mood from the beginning of the day. Although, after seeing her friend's display of embarrassment and eagerness a few minutes ago, Momoi was even more immune to Megumi's cold, uninterested behavior.

"Thank you for caring though."

Momoi's head snapped up at the soft whisper of gratitude she heard slip out of the teal-haired girl's mouth, her eyes widening with wonder at those few words.

Noticing the other girl's expression, Megumi instantly realized what effect her statement might have on Momoi and quickly tried to take it back. "Crap—I didn't mean that—I—"

"Now, now, Megu-chan," Momoi said, wagging a finger in front of Megumi's nose and grinning impishly. "You've already given me your thanks. You can't take it back, you know."

"What? Yes, I can!"

"Nope!"

"I just took it back."

"No, you didn't."

"Watch me!"

"…"

"…"

"Well?"

"Nevermind!"

Momoi laughed while Megumi snapped her head in a direction that caused her long hair to hide her face as well as her angry blush.

"You really are so easy to fluster, Megu-chan."

"Shut up!"

A few minutes later, after Momoi had had her fun, she and Megumi left Maji Burger, with the pink-haired girl practically hauling her companion by the wrist as she walked in the direction of the nearby park.

The gray-eyed female muttered half-hearted curses as she went.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megumi shares homeroom with a bespectacled grass-head and a blue-haired pervert.

The first time Megumi stepped foot onto the Teiko school property was on her first day there.

Before then, Momoi had tried more than once to convince her to visit the place before the day the school term actually started, but Megumi seemed to have an endless flow of excuses, some of them quite ridiculous, stockpiled in order to avoid having to leave her comfortable, temperature and humidity controlled house.

Now, the teal-haired girl was wearing the light blue and white Teiko uniform and stood in front of the school gates, yawning into her hand disinterestedly. The fifteen minute walk to the school was already enough to drain much of Megumi's energy, and she wanted to go to sleep despite having just woken up about an hour ago. Rubbing her eyes with one hand and adjusting the strap of her backpack with the other, she gloomily trudged ahead with lazy, half-lidded eyes.

The large courtyard in front of the main white building was packed with students wearing the same uniform as she and chatting with their friends animatedly, a sharp contrast from Megumi's own dull, even bored, demeanor.

Though she didn't look the least bit happy to be there, the gray-eyed female was actually relatively pleased with her situation. Though she had to force herself out of the bed in the morning, make herself breakfast, and drag her feet for a fifteen minute walk, she didn't mind it too much if it meant going to a school that didn't force her to take athletics class. A small price to pay for a something so beneficial.

"Swimming! Come join the swim club!"

"Sign up for the baseball team here!"

"Basketball! Basketball!"

 _Ah._ Megumi recognized those shouts. Every year, sports teams and clubs recruited extra members by setting up a booth, shouting at new students, and shoving flyers in their faces. It was something that annoyed her most always on the first day of school. She could only take so many sports fanatics getting in her personal space before she got fed up and threw their flyer back at them as a tiny crumpled paper ball.

But this year, Megumi was determined to ignore them and get into the building as soon as possible before one of the recruiters spotted her. Taking out a book about western literature from her bag, she opened it and began to read as she walked, using the covers of the paperback to hide her face.

"Hey, you! Little lady with the Shakespeare book!"

Megumi bristled and froze in her tracks as she heard the male voice call to her. Oh yes, she knew it was directed at her without even turning to make sure because she was very certain that no one else her age would be reading about an old western playwright. _Dammit._

Before Megumi could decide whether or not to pretend she didn't hear, the owner of the voice who had addressed her ran up to her. And what do you know? He held out a flyer toward her with the words "Join the Kendo Club!" printed in English. "Have you joined a club yet? If not, how about the kendo club?"

Eyelids instantly drooping with boredom and annoyance, Megumi stopped trying to hide her face behind her book and looked the boy up and down. _If he's recruiting members, then he must be a second or third year. So he's a senpai…_ In all honestly, Megumi wanted to bluntly refuse him and shred the flyer, but she knew that as she got older and went into secondary and high school, respecting upperclassmen will become more and more important. She could get into trouble if she doesn't control her lashing remarks in the presence of the seniors.

Instead of replying how she would have liked to reply, Megumi gritted teeth slightly to get a hold on her agitation with the club recruiter, before forcing a smile that didn't reach her eyes and bowed stiffly. "No, thank you, Senpai."

And with that, she turned and left, lifting the book to her face again. She mentally shrugged as she weaved past the hordes of students socializing in the courtyard. _That was polite enough, I suppose._

"Soccer! Join the Soccer Club now!"

"Basketball tryouts after school today!"

Megumi kept walking and soon entered the school building, hearing the voices of the club recruiters fading. She let out a puff of relief and started to search for her classroom so that she could sit down and rest her aching feet.

Momoi had offered to help Megumi out around the school on the first day, but the teal-haired girl had declined the proposal, saying that she could just memorize the map that came with the enrollment forms.

And she did. Megumi could very easily picture the colorful, detailed layout of the entire campus as she had seen it printed on paper a few days earlier. She had always been good at memorizing images, and since her photographic memory had never failed her before, Megumi trusted the map inside her head to take her to her classroom efficiently.

Because there was still several minutes before school started, Megumi assumed that she would be the first to get to her room since everyone else was using the extra time to mingle with their friends or sign up for extracurricular activities.

It would seem that everyone had a friend they could stick with for the first day except for Megumi. But these circumstances had never really bothered the teal-headed girl as she was so used to eating lunch alone and never participating in partner work. She wondered if she should refer to Momoi as a friend now or keep their relationship at the acquaintance level. After all. she'd done a lot to help her, Megumi, enroll at Teiko without having to leave the comfort of her house.

Despite her sometime annoying bubbly and energetic personality, Momoi had been kind to Megumi for the weeks they worked to raise the pink-haired female's English grade. She had never once gotten mad at the gray-eyed girl's cold, straightforward way of speaking and taken the harsh criticism when Megumi looked through her failed homework papers. Even when the tutoring wasn't needed anymore, Momoi kept talking to her and visiting her instead of being relieved that her time with Megumi was over.

Come to think of it, Megumi couldn't remember another time when someone had managed to stick with her for so long. Comprehending this realization, she felt a strange warmth on the inside. _She even told me about Teiko Middle School and helped me register. Otherwise I wouldn't have known this place existed and would have had to go to some other school that required physical education._

Then, a new feeling that Megumi had never felt before washed over her: guilt. Not once had she sincerely thanked the other girl for everything she had done.

In a way, Momoi had been the one to save Megumi from having to take a cursed gym class by recommending Teiko. If she had not dragged Megumi out into the city and brought up the topic of middle school, who knew what awful place the teal-haired female would have had to attend?

Megumi was suddenly more inclined to update the status of her relationship with Momoi from "acquaintance" to "friend." She also got the nagging thought that she should do something to return her new friend's kindness, something subtle, of course. because there was no way in hell Megumi was going to buy ice cream for her or invite her over to eat lunch together, nothing too sociable. That would be out of character, and surely Momoi would end up teasing her for it.

She recalled Momoi mentioning going to watch the basketball tryouts and evening asking Megumi if she wanted to come too. Her offer was firmly declined since Megumi was focused on going back to her house as soon as possible when school ended. Now, she wasn't so sure.

Megumi contemplated her problem as she walked through the halls crowded with students. An imaginary light bulb suddenly lit up as she neared her classroom. _Ah, I know… I'll just go watch the tryouts with Momoi after all. That should make her a little bit happy. If she asks why I went, I'll simply tell her that I was too tired to walk home and needed some entertainment while I regain my energy. Yes, that'll do._

Feeling good about her plan, Megumi entered her classroom, hoping that she was the first one to arrive. That way, she could have some peace and quiet before class started.

To her great shock, as her eyes scanned the room, she found that she was not the only one who came early in hopes of escape from the rowdiness outside.

A single person sat in a chair in the front row with one of his elbows propped up on the surface of the desk and his chin rested on his hand. His other hand was wrapped in bandages, white fingers tapping the table impatiently. When Megumi stepped into the room and walked past him to get to a seat in the second row, he looked up at her briefly through black rimmed glasses with narrow green eyes before staring ahead at the chalkboard again. A large, yellow rubber ducky sat at the corner of his desk, facing him.

As soon a Megumi took a seat in the second row, she realized that, with her ridiculously short height, she could not see anything with that boy, who was abnormally tall, in the row in front of her. The back of his green head blocked half of her view of the front board, and being able to see the board was essential for Megumi to take good notes and have top ranking grades.

Though she didn't really have that much competition for the first place rank in elementary school, Megumi was not so conceited that she would assume it would be that easy to maintain the position in secondary school. There were far more students in one grade than in primary school, and they all came from different places which meant there might be some unknown genius student who could easily take her rank if she's not careful.

The thought of someone else's name written at the top of the exam results poster made Megumi feel sick and without a second thought, she quickly gathered her things and moved to a desk on the front row next to the green-haired giant.

There, the two sat in a silence that was comfortable at first before quickly getting more and more awkward as the only sound in the room was the soft ticking of the clock hanging on the wall.

It was weird; Megumi had never felt discomfort from silence before. It had always been other people who started twitching and twiddles their thumbs in discomfort around _her_ and never the other way around. Megumi was not affected by awkward silences, and yet she suddenly found the stillness almost stifling as she sat next to the green-haired boy who showed no indication of being bothered by the quietness.

The teal-haired girl, however, did not dare say anything to the bespectacled male. If being affected by uncomfortable silences was strange for Megumi, then initiating conversation was completely out of character. She made up her mind to keep quiet, crossed her arms over her chest, leaned back in her chair, and tried to act as casual as possible while she waited for the other students and the teacher to show up.

Soon, other people began filing into the classroom, still talking and laughing, and slowly the quiet was driven out by the noise of middle school kids settling into their seats and fooling around before the teacher arrives.

At one point, a girl walked past Megumi's spot and accidentally bumped into the edge of the desk that belonged to the green-headed boy, causing the rubber ducky to fall off and roll under the gray-eyed female's table.

"I'm so sorry!" the girl exclaimed when she realized what she had done, bowing repeatedly at the boy in request for forgiveness.

As the girl apologized, Megumi reached down and picked up the rubber duck, examining it curiously.

"Hmph," the owner of the rubber animal regarded the poor girl coldly as he pushed up his glasses a little with taped fingers. "Idiot, watch where you're going next time. That's my lucky item you just knocked over, nanodayo."

"Y-yes!" the girl squeaked in response, clearly intimidated by the boy's height and piercing glare. Then, she bowed once more and hurried away to her friends.

Megumi watched her go with eyes slightly wider than usual. After seeing how the boy treated someone just for knocking over his rubber ducky, Megumi was very glad that she did not try to talk to him while they were alone in the classroom.

"Oi," the teal-haired girl gave a small start when said male's attention was suddenly directed towards her. "Give me back the rubber duck, nanodayo. _Now._ "

 _Nano…dayo…? The hell? Does he say that after every sentence?_ Megumi glanced at the squeaky bath toy that was sitting in her hand and back at the male. "Could you as you ask for it more politely?" she inquired, No matter how socially awkward she herself was, Megumi knew that she was not as bad as her new desk neighbor.

"Tch," the male's eyebrows furrowed with irritation. He reached out his right hand to simply take his "lucky item" from her, but Megumi reacted quickly and brought it to her other side, away from the boy and out of his reach.

"Just ask me to give it back nicely," she reasoned, though she knew that if the boy got out of his seat, he would easily overpower her and get the duck back without fulfilling her conditions.

One brow twitching, he sharpened his already narrow eyes with concentration before questioning her seriously, "What blood type are you, nanodayo?"

Megumi blinked. _Eh?_ "Type O. Why?" Normally, she would not have bothered to keep the discussion going by asking why he wanted to know, but Megumi saw a true interest in the boy's eyes that she rarely saw in the people who usually engaged her in conversation; he seriously wanted to know her blood type and wasn't just asking to avoid awkward silences which clearly he was no bothered by. He was genuinely curious which in turn made Megumi curious as to why _he_ was curious.

"Zodiac sign?" he continued, ignoring her question.

"Uh. Scorpio."

With a vaguely intense look in his eyes, the green-haired boy pushed his glasses up again and replied, "Oha Asa said that I'll meet a Scorpio and a Sagittarius today, one of whom will cause me trouble in the near future. I had predicted it would be the Sagittarius since Scorpio and Cancer are usually compatible while Sagittarius and Cancer aren't, but now I'm not so sure." He fixed her with a sharp glare out of the corner of his eye.

 _Is he actually serious?_ _What the hell is Oha Asa?_ In response to his dirty look, she just stared back at him dully, wondering how to properly reply to his brief horoscope lesson. "Uh..."

But before Megumi could think of something feasible to say, a middle-aged woman wearing a dress shirt and a pencil skirt walked into the classroom, carrying books and filing folders. Her intelligent brown eyes scanned the students momentarily as they all separated from their friend groups and got into their seats.

Megumi suddenly realized how weird she would look with the rubber ducky displaying on her desk, and hastily tossed it back to the green-haired boy, who caught it with ease.

The teacher set her stuff down on her desk at the front of the room, put on a pair of reading glasses, and pulled out a roster of all the kids in her class. "Good morning, class," she started in a dry tone as if she was reading from a script with no enthusiasm. "My name is Royama-sensei. I will be your homeroom teacher and counselor. I will start by taking roll. Please respond when your name is called. Then I will place you in a seating arrangement based on your surname."

Several groans were heard throughout the room as people understood that they won't be able to sit with whoever they wanted.

Royama-sensei ignored the displeased moans and started with the first name on the list, "Akechi Megumi."

"Here, Royama-sensei," Megumi responded.

"Aomine Daiki."

A voice from the back of the room that Megumi wasn't interested in enough to match a face to, called back, "Here."

"Bokuto Hideko."

"Here."

"… Fukuzawa Hirohisa… Hida Yataro…Itobe Hanami…"

* * *

Megumi had hoped that once the teacher made seating arrangements, she would be moved far from the green-haired boy, whom she found out was named Midorima Shintaro, surname starting with "Mido" which was far away from "Ake". But to her dismay, though their surnames were certain to place them apart from each other, the green-eyed boy ended up in the seat right behind her because there were only eight people with surnames in between them.

Megumi had the front row seat next to the window and on the other side of her was someone named Aomine Daiki, a tan-skinned, blue-haired boy who was also oddly tall for his age, maybe even taller than Midorima Shintaro. He had an athletic build, which immediately put Megumi off a bit but looked like an overall nice guy.

At least, the teal-haired girl thought so until she saw him doodling rudimentary pictures of girls with large busts while he was supposed to be taking notes about what the teacher was saying. Megumi was surprised none of the senseis in their first three classes noticed that he wasn't paying attention.

Now that it was lunchtime, Megumi was slightly disappointed that Momoi wasn't in her class, though she would never admit it to the pink-haired girl. Some people started to leave the classroom to find their friends to eat together, but the gray-eyed girl, who had no one to meet up with and who hated going outside, decided to eat in the classroom on her own.

But that idea was quickly disregarded when she noticed with a sweatdrop that Midorima Shintaro had not moved from his seat and was taking out a bento box and a pair of chopsticks, clearly having the same idea as Megumi to stay in the room for the lunch period.

 _So he doesn't really have any friends either._ Just as the teal-haired female was wondering if she should stay or leave to have her own bento elsewhere, a familiar feminine voice called her name cheerfully.

"Megu-chan! Let's have lunch together!" Momoi invited from the doorway of the classroom, waving at her warmly. "Dai-chan and I are going to the roof. Want to come?"

Megumi stared at her for a moment, processing the unfamiliar words.

While she remained indecisive, Momoi skipped toward her desk, followed by Aomine Daiki who was carrying her school bag as well as his own ( _Dai-chan... Oh._ Megumi thought). "Come on, Megu-chan. It's such a nice day; I'm not letting you stay in here when the weather is so pretty."

"Why did you give me a choice in the first place then?" Megumi muttered under her breath, but reluctantly allowed Momoi to take her wrist and pull her out of the chair anyway. "Okay, I'm coming. Let me get my stuff…"

She quickly dug out her own bento box and some chopsticks. Then, she followed Momoi and Aomine Daiki out of the classroom, leaving Midorima Shintaro to his own devices

"So, Megu-chan, this is Dai-chan," Momoi introduced, pointing at her tall, blue-haired friend. "And, Dai-chan, this is Megu-chan. She's the one who—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Aomine said, rubbing the back of his neck as he led the two females to the staircase that went to the roof. "She's the one who tutored your English. You've mentioned her so many times that it was starting to get annoying."

"Well, I was thinking that she could assist you too," Momoi persisted. "Your math grade really needs help; I'm actually kind of worried as to how you'll graduate to high school if you keep this up."

Aomine waved one of his hands dismissively while the other reached for the knob of the door that led to the rooftop. "I don't know what, but there's something about your notes that lets me pass every time. As long as I copy them before exams, I'll be fine. Stop worrying, Satsuki."

Momoi put her hands on her hips and pouted slightly but followed Aomine through the doorway.

The rooftop was vacant at the moment, but Megumi was sure that it would be more occupied in several minutes, being a relatively popular spot for eating with friends.

The three first-years sat in a row along the railing that ran along the edge of the platform and opened their lunches.

"Anyway," Momoi continued, sitting in between the teal-haired girl and Aomine, "it's great that you two are in the same class. When I realized I wasn't in Dai-chan's class, I was nervous about how he would do without me." She flashed a bright grin in Megumi's direction. "But I think he'll be okay if he has someone as smart as you sitting right next to him, Megu-chan."

"I guess…" Megumi wondered if she should mention the doodles she saw in Aomine's notebook.

"Hmm? Your bento is so small, Megu-chan," Momoi commented with a tilt of her head, intrigued by the abnormally tiny bento in the other girl's lap.

Megumi took out her chopsticks before carefully opening the box and replied without looking at the other girl, "I told you, Momoi, I don't eat much. Most things don't taste that good anyway…"

The gray-eyed girl's lunch box consisted of four little compartments with some rice in the largest one, a bundle of green apple slices in the next biggest, a vegetable stir fry and a couple slices of cooked fish in the last two spaces. Nothing special.

Momoi looked at the bento in wonder, her eyes twinkling in admiration, "You eat so healthily, Megu-chan," she exclaimed. Then, she seemed to realize that there were virtually no sweets or candies in the box. "But isn't it a bit bland without a desert?"

Megumi shrugged indifferently, putting a piece of fish in her mouth and swallowing before answering, "Doesn't matter. Everything tastes the same to me."

"What do you mean 'everything tastes the same'?" the pink-haired girl questioned with a hint of worry in her eyes. She gasped quietly when a suspicion swam its way into her brain, and she covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh, Megu-chan… Don't tell me you're anorexic? No, please don't be—"

Megumi almost dropped her eating utensils in shock. She twitched before whirling on Momoi angrily, "Of course not, you idiot! I just don't particularly like any foods, so I don't find pleasure in eating. But since I have to consume food in order to stay alive, I might as well make it healthy food. Was that so hard to guess?"

Momoi was now placing a finger on her chin thoughtfully, "That's really interesting, Megu-chan. I've never met someone who dislikes eating." She then smiled at her brightly. "But there must be _something_ you like eating, and I'm going to help you find it. I'll make you a bento tomorrow with some of my favorites, and you can try it."

Megumi sputtered at the same time, for reasons unknown to the teal-headed female, Aomine choked on the hamburger doused in teriyaki sauce he was having for lunch.

As the blue-haired boy coughed violently, Megumi tried to dissuade Momoi of her decision to make a bento for her, "Wait, Momoi, you don't have to—"

"No objections, Megu-chan," the taller girl interrupted firmly with her hands planted on her hips again. "Don't worry; I've made bentos for Dai-chan before, right, Dai-chan?" she asked with the most innocent smile.

Aomine looked a bit pale when she focused her attention on him but nodded unconvincingly to her question. However, as soon as Momoi turned her back to him again, the tan-skinned boy frantically made warning gestures at Megumi over her shoulder.

The inner clockwork of Megumi's mind tried to figure out what Aomine was trying to get across, but before she could figure it out, Momoi abruptly closed discussion on the topic of bentos, declaring that she was going to make a bento for the gray-eyed girl whether she liked it or not.

The rest of the lunch period passed with the pink-headed female telling stories about herself and Aomine when they were younger and Megumi trying to understand what the boy had been so worried about when Momoi offered to make a bento for her.

* * *

When the last class of the day was over, Megumi packed up her things and almost forgot that she had settled at going to watch the basketball tryouts with her pink-haired friend. She let out a loud exhale, eyelids drooping when she remembered that she would not get to go home like she had thought. With one strap of her bag dangling off of her shoulder tiredly and her long teal braid starting to fall apart throughout the day, Megumi's weary demeanor reminded several of her classmates of a homeless person trudging on the streets.

"Akechi-san, please wait a moment."

Megumi froze in the middle of a step, her mouth still open in a wide yawn when she heard Royama-sensei's voice call to her. "Hmm?" she turned back around with dull eyes to the teacher sitting in front of the chalkboard. "Yes, Royama-sensei," she said with the most interested tone she could muster. The last of the students left the classroom as Megumi approached the teacher's desk. She wondered if she was in trouble.

Royama-sensei placed her elbows on the her table and folded her hands together under her chin, gazing at Megumi through thin glasses. "I just received a notice from the director of athletics concerning your sports choice."

Megumi's brow furrowed in confusion, and an unpleasant shiver ran down her spine as she realized that something was wrong. All her previous indifference was quickly replaced with anxiety as she responded hesitantly, "Err… I didn't sign up for a sport, ma'am."

"That's the problem," the older woman said and went on, not noticing the color drain from Megumi's already naturally pale face. "Of course, we'll give you another day to decide which one you want to participate in since we _do_ offer a lot of choices, but we'll need your answer soon. Our sports teams are very serious and start practice this week."

Megumi was now mildly trembling as she processed the words. _Wait, what about not having a gym class?_ She tried to calm herself. "I am required to do a sport?" she asked in a somewhat meek, but hopeful voice, praying to all the heavens that the teacher would shake her head.

Royama-sensei nodded, and the teal-haired girl's entire world and faith in a kind higher power shattered into a million little pieces.

She stood there as an empty shell for a few seconds, feeling like she had crumpled to ashes and the wind was blowing her away. Only the wave of Royama-sensei's hand in front of her face brought her back into reality which really wasn't much better than her imagination.

"You may go now, Akechi-san. Just remember to turn in your sports application before this time tomorrow. Have a good afternoon." The teacher dismissed her and walked out of the classroom, holding a stack of papers and heading home for the day.

For another several seconds, Megumi remained in the same spot she was standing when Royama-sensei told her the news. After those several seconds, she blinked once, twice, having fully comprehended her situation. Then, where once dry emptiness was, there suddenly came a burning anger so intense that Momoi, sitting in the first gym on the other side of the campus, felt an unexplained chill.


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The valiant Momoi tries to save the salty damsel-in-distress, Megumi, from having to endure half a school year of intense physical activity in Teiko.

Everyone in the first gym jumped with a start when the sound of their door being shoved open violently echoed loudly throughout the large chamber, causing all the boys preparing for tryouts, the coach, and Momoi to stop what they were doing and turn their gazes toward the entrance.

Megumi stood in the doorway. Her head was lowered a little, and the choppy hair that had escaped from her braid cast an ominous shadow over her eyes. Her entire body was stiff and her uniform was disheveled as if she had gone on a rampage before coming here. For a couple of seconds, she didn't move, causing the air in the gym to grow heavy with silence.

Momoi immediately knew something was wrong, since her friend would normally never draw so much attention to herself by making such a loud entrance. She exchanged a glance with the assistance coach of the basketball team, who was sitting next to her on the bench before looking back across the court at Megumi.

"Get back to practice!" the coach shouted to the players once he got over his surprise; the boys hastily went back to what they were doing. Seeing the look on Momoi's face, he then addressed the pink-haired girl, "Do you know that person, Momoi?" He was shifting his eyes in Megumi's direction with a hint of annoyance for she had rudely disturbed his tryouts.

"Yes, I do, Sanada-san," she replied, her brows furrowing in worry at the other female's odd behavior. Then, a panicked shiver shot up her spine when Megumi slowly began walking toward her, not even bothering to go along the sidelines but striding right across the neatly waxed court, interrupting the shots of a couple players. "She is a friend of mine. I will go see what's going on."

Sanada nodded with a grunt and watched as Momoi quickly got up from the bench and began making her way toward the teal-haired girl.

The closer Momoi got to her friend, the more uneasy she felt. She suddenly sensed the same chill she had experienced a few minutes ago, like someone was directing all of their wrath and fury at her. "M-megu-chan?" she greeted hesitantly, forcing a shaky smile. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming."

"Momoi," Megumi hadn't lifted her head, still leaving her eyes in the shadow. Her voice was soft and barely noticeable.

The pink-headed girl started to sweat uncontrollably. _Oh God, what did I do? Of all the times she's been annoyed, she's never gotten this mad before._ Wringing her hands nervously, Momoi unconsciously took a tiny step from Megumi, wanting to get away from the menacing aura rolling off of the other female's being.

"Can you explain to me…" the gray-eyed girl continued, "…why my teacher just told me that I am required to sign up for a sport? Hmm? Please explain it to me, Momoi…"

"Eh?" Momoi, who had been trembling with fright seconds ago, felt the terror suddenly flush out of her body as she tilted her head to one side in genuine obliviousness with a blank expression. "What do you mean? Explain it to you…?"

Megumi didn't show it, but her anger increased tenfold at her acquaintance's lack of awareness (yes, she had, in her foul mood, downgraded her status with Momoi back to "acquaintance"). A vein bulged in her temple but was covered up by her hair. She took an inaudible breath and growled her next words out through her teeth. "I will rephrase the question."

Nodding attentively, Momoi leaned closer, determined to understand her friend's inquiry this time.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me that, by coming to Teiko, I would have _to play a damned sport?!_ " she practically screamed the last few words, nearly busting the poor girl's eardrums and catching the attention of the players around them again.

Momoi instantly pressed her hands to her ears, cowering away from Megumi, even though she, Momoi, was five inches taller than her.

Once again, all the heads in the gym turned in their direction with curiosity, and Megumi instantly shot a murderous glare at the nearest one, "What the fuck are you looking at, you shit?"

The boy twitched with fear and started to sweat, not at all expecting a short skinny girl like her to have such an intimidating glare and know such vulgar language. He cowered away like Momoi.

At this point, Sanada had his arms crossed sternly and an irritated scowl plastered on his face at the interruption of his practice again, and got up from his bench to approach the foul-tongued, teal-haired girl menacingly.

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, once he was behind Momoi and facing Megumi. "If you are only here to disrupt the tryouts, then I would kindly ask you to leave and not distract my players."

Megumi figured that she should lower her voice and apologize sincerely for causing the coach offense, but her anger wouldn't allow it. She only managed to fake a sickening sweet smile at Sanada before snatching up Momoi's wrist with an iron grip and saying to him, "I hope you won't mind me speaking with _Satsuki_ in private, won't you?"

Momoi paled considerably, and then she was dragged toward the exit of the gym by the other girl who didn't even wait for Sanada's reply.

Once Megumi slammed the door behind them on their way out, she whirled on the pink-haired girl, her breaths shaking with anger. "You said that there isn't a gym class at this school!" she hissed out.

"There isn't!" Momoi replied exasperatedly, still not quite understanding why her friend was in such an unpleasant mood. "Teiko focuses on team sports mainly, so they want all of their students to be part of a sports club. That's why they don't offer any other alternative for getting athletics credit."

"But why didn't you tell me this before?!" the teal-haired girl's patience had become non-existent now and it took all of her will power to not violently shake Momoi by the shoulders and scream with frustration.

"I-I thought you knew," the other female protested in defense. "Teiko's famous for being sports-oriented and winning more tournaments in all athletic areas than any other school in Tokyo. Haven't you heard of them on TV or something?"

"Of course not, I don't even own a TV, Momoi," Megumi all but shrieked, clutching her head and messing up her hair even more. "And I never read the newspaper; I'm never that interested. If you haven't noticed, I pay very little attention to things I don't give a shit about, like sports news."

Momoi went silent, processing Megumi's words. She tried to calm her friend by looking for a solution, "So what if it's a sports-oriented school? You can just join a sport. I'll even help you sign up for one. What are you good at?"

Running a through her tangled and disheveled hair, the gray-eyed girl was now beginning to look more panicked than angry. She stared straight at Momoi's face with pupils that were almost terrorized. "That's the problem, Momoi," she said, her voice still loud but more helpless, as if she had found herself in a position that she both hated and feared more than any other. "I cannot play a sport, and I will not. I refuse to stay after school to exercise and come to school early for practice. And even if I did, I wouldn't last thirty minutes of training."

"But there must be at least one sport that you find acceptable," Momoi reasoned, doing her best to keep her friend happy.

Megumi shook her head with all seriousness. "No, you don't understand, Momoi! I honestly will not make it through any type of sport. I hardly survived in elementary school; how can I possibly going to do it at a school where the main focus is athletics? This is utterly insane and my mother and I've already signed the paperwork that guarantees I'll be staying here at least until mid-terms. What the hell am I going to do?"

The teal-haired girl then let out a defeated sigh and sank down against a wall, quickly exhausted from the intense emotions she had expressed. Her forehead rested against her knees and her braid was on the verge of falling completely apart.

Momoi glanced down at Megumi's figure, on the ground like an empty shell. Her brows furrowed and concern filled her eyes at seeing someone so dejected, but she genuinely did not know what to do. She is aware now of what a large issue this was for her friend.

When Megumi signed up for Teiko Middle School, Momoi told herself that she would look after her short and shrimpy, gray-eyed classmate from elementary school. She was going to help Megumi make more friends and hopefully also live a healthier lifestyle. She wasn't sure why she felt such an attachment to the sour female, but something told her that despite Megumi's indifferent attitude, the younger girl truly does want friends; she just hasn't found the right people yet.

"Join the basketball club," the words flew out of her mouth almost involuntarily as she was so used to being the one to suggest things to Megumi, who either accepted or brutally declined the idea; most of the time, it's the latter.

Megumi raised her head slightly from her curled up position but didn't fully look at the pink-haired girl. "I already told, Momoi, I don't play sports. Basketball is probably among my worst. So much running and jumping—"

"No," Momoi explained hastily, "I'm joined up as a manager for the boy's team, so you can be a manager or something too. As long as you're a member of the club, you'll get the sports credit. If you're a manager, you'll be part of the club, but you don't have to do any real playing. That's all right, isn't it?"

Eyes narrowed with suspicion, Megumi lifted her head from her knees and said, "If you're already the manager, then how am I supposed to get that position, idiot?"

Shaking her head, the pink-haired girl went on, "There's three strings in the basketball team and each string can use a manager, so there's really three managers who manage the entire club. I can ask Sanada-san to give one of those spots to you."

Megumi gave a sarcastic snort, "And Sanada-san favors me so much, doesn't he?" A sneer quickly appeared on her face and she shifted her eyes a direction that wasn't Momoi's. "There's no way he'll do me any benefits such as giving me a position like the manager's in his club."

Momoi bit her lip, eyes darting back and forth with calculation. "I'll convince him," she stated firmly.

"Hmm?" Megumi turned her head ever so slightly towards her, eyes now watching out of the corners, showing that a little bit of her attention had been captured by Momoi's confident declaration. "How will you do it?"

"Don't worry, Megu-chan," the other girl replied with a reassuring smile. "I'll persuade Sanada-san to let you in. I'm really good at convincing, you see."

Eyelids drooping with dull annoyance as she remembered the times the pink-haired girl had been able to force her out of the house, Megumi muttered, "Oh, I am aware."

With a wink, Momoi began making her way back toward the gym entrance. "You can go home, Megu-chan. I'll take care of everything, okay?"

Megumi could only stare at her with a blank expression, still doubting that it would be possible to get out of the horrid situation without suffering. Her eyebrows knitted together as she watched Momoi disappear into the gym again. Though she knew that the next few months of her life were going to be hell, she wondered why the pink-haired girl was trying so hard to help when the problem doesn't concern her one bit.

* * *

"Akechi Megumi?" Sanada Naoto repeated the name to Momoi thoughtfully.

"Yes, I think she would make a wonderful manager for the second or third string teams," Momoi said with an enthusiastic but polite nod.

After practice ended, Momoi had proposed the idea of having Megumi as a new manager to Sanada and the team captain Nijimura Shuuzou. The coach, Nijimura, and the pink-haired girl were now sitting in an office, discussing the topic that Momoi refused to drop.

"She's really smart and organized and responsible too," she added as Sanada rubbed his chin pensively. "Also, she isn't joined up with any other club, so all of her time will be focused on the basketball team, and—"

The coach waved his hand dismissively to interrupt Momoi's words, "She does sounds like a very capable person who would excel at managing, but I'm afraid the managers' spot for both second and third string are already taken by a couple of other first year girls. I would very much like to take her in, but there just isn't a spot open. I'm sorry, Momoi."

Momoi's mouth hung open for a moment as she was not aware that second and third string already had managers. Thinking fast, she quickly came up with another argument, "But the basketball club is so big, so isn't it wiser to accept all the help we can get? She could help me with the first string team, since there seems to be a lot of really good new members and the first string could expand greatly. Some of the first years were amazing today, don't you think?"

"She has a point, Sanada-san," Nijimura advised the coach, eyes narrowed with evaluation. "I'd think a few of them might actually be suited for the first string right away. The first string is getting bigger, and it might be difficult for just one manager to handle such a large team."

Nodding in acknowledgement to Nijimura's words, Sanada crossed his arms and crossed his eyes in contemplation.

Momoi sat in her seat across from the coach and the captain, her back stiff and lips pressed into a hard line, willing the two males to see the merit in allowing Megumi in the club.

Neither Nijimura nor Sanada knew that the name Momoi mentioned, Akechi Megumi, actually belonged to the strange girl who had disturbed tryouts earlier in the afternoon, and Momoi wasn't going to bring it up. Everything she had said about Megumi had been true, so she felt no guilt in this method of persuasion.

The old coach exhaled a small sigh and opened his eyes, "I'll think about it," he replied to Momoi.

Momoi clenched a jaw a little bit at this, but it was better than blunt rejection. "Thank you for considering, Sanada-san," she stood up and bowed.

"Now go home, Momoi," the coach said, making a shooing motion in her direction. "It'll get dark soon, so hurry. I'll give you my answer tomorrow perhaps."

"Good night, Sanada-san, Nijimura-san," the pink-haired girl left the office and headed for the entrance to the third gym where Aomine was waiting for her. When she got there, her friend was yawning widely, tired from the practice, and leaning against the side of the building. The sun was completely set, and the first stars were starting to twinkle in the heavens.

"Sorry for the wait, Dai-chan," Momoi called out as she quickened her pace to him.

"What were you doing anyway, Satsuki?" the male asked, picking up his bag and handing Momoi hers. "And what was the deal with Akechi earlier?"

Momoi didn't think that Megumi would appreciate her spreading her unfortunate story around so she only responded, "Megu-chan was in a bit of a bit of a bind with choosing which club she wants to join, so I invited to join the basketball club as a manager. Of course, I had to ask Sanada-san first, but he seems reluctant."

"Well, yeah, we already have three managers. There isn't really a need for another one," Aomine said airily. He stretched his arms over his head and grunted as his shoulders popped refreshingly. "Come on, I'm walking you home. Everyone else left a while ago."

The pink-haired girl nodded with a cheerful smile and was about to follow his form that had begun moving ahead of her toward the front gates of the school.

At that moment, however, her attention was caught by the faint sound of a single basketball bouncing against a wooden floor. It sounded to be coming from inside the third gym, like someone was still practicing by himself. Then, the sound stopped.

Didn't Dai-chan say that everyone already left? Curious, Momoi slowly crept to the door and took a peek into the building where half of the lights had been turned off, expecting to find someone. But to her shock, her eyes scanned the chamber and found that it was empty. She frowned and stepped into the gym experimentally. _That's odd. I could have sworn…_

Suddenly, the noise of a ball being dribbled on the wooden floor echoed throughout the entire atrium, coming from the darker side of the gym, nearly scaring Momoi to death.

The girl barely suppressed a shriek, and frantically looked around in all directions, searching for the source of the sound, but again found nobody in sight. She could still hear the dribbling though, and it resounded ominously against the tall ceiling. Momoi began to shake a bit out of fear and couldn't help but think about how menacing the side of the building with the lights dimmed looked. Before she knew it, all kinds of theories began to circulate in her mind, each one more frightening than the next, and she at last slammed the door behind her and bolted after Aomine, who was already halfway to the main gates now.

"Oi, what's the matter with you?" the blue-haired boy questioned upon seeing Momoi's panicked breathing and slightly sweaty forehead.

"I-it's nothing, Dai-chan," she replied, though her tone wasn't very convincing. "I just thought I heard someone in the gym." Could it be a ghost…?

Aomine looked at her with his brows furrowed a little, "I just checked the third gym before you came, and there wasn't any one in there. It's just your imagination. You're getting so worked up over nothing."

Liking Aomine's reasoning better than all of her own, Momoi nodded stiffly, trying to persuade herself that it truly was her imagination instead of some supernatural being lurking on the campus. "You're probably right, I'm overreacting. How is it possible for someone to have that little presence, right?"

The two left the school and began walking in the direction of their houses which were around twenty minutes away. They had been walking home together for years and both knew the routine by heart. First, they'd stop at a convenience shop along the way and buy some supplies, then they go to Momoi's house and drop her off, and then Aomine would continue the last couple of minutes to his place on his own. And in the morning, they would meet in front of Momoi's and go to school together, and sometimes along the way they'd get breakfast together if the meal they had at home wasn't quite satisfying enough.

As they walked, the two childhood friends talked about their first day and anything eventful that happened in their classes.

"There's this really tall guy in my class," Momoi was saying, thinking of some of the more interesting new classmates she had. "I think his name is… Murasakibara-kun. He really likes sweets and doesn't have a very long attention span, but he did really well at the tryouts today. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually makes first string."

Hearing this, Aomine's eyes became interested. "Murasakibara… The one with purple hair, right?"

Momoi nodded.

"Yeah, he's pretty good," the blue-haired male mused as he remembered said boy's ridiculously overwhelming offensive power at the tryouts; even the coaches and captain were shocked, not only by Murasakibara's height, but also his ability to move and react so quickly with such a giant body. "Apparently, first years never make first string on their first try," Aomine sighed, stretching his arms over his head lazily, "but I'd say some do have a good chance of making it. There's this guy in my class who specializes in shooting. His name is Midorima, I think."

"I think you can make first string too, Dai-chan," Momoi said with a bright beam. "You were great at the tryouts, and I think Sanada-san is keeping an eye on you."

Aomine scratched the back of his head, a modest smile on his lips, "I wouldn't say that…"

But Momoi could tell that in truth, Aomine loved the praise and was secretly wishing she would say it again. Before either of them could speak more, however, Momoi glanced to her left nonchalantly and came to an abrupt stop when she realized that they were passing Megumi's house.

It was a small home, two-stories, rather boxy, and had a somewhat old-fashion type of architecture. A single light was on in the upstairs window, and the shadow of someone bent over a desk was cast against the curtains. The rest of the house was dark, and Momoi couldn't help but notice how lonely it looked despite being surrounded by other houses on both sides.

Momoi used to walk by this street and pass this house without a single thought, but now she knew that it was Megumi's home, it was hard to ignore how forlorn the building looked with the rest of the house dark and only one light on in what was probably Megumi's room.

The pink-haired girl stood there for a moment, looking up at the house and recognizing the shadow as her gray-eyed friend probably reading or something. For a second, she wondered if she should go knock on the door and make sure that Megumi was all right considering the traumatizing day she had had. But something told her that it would most likely annoy the other girl more if she showed up at her front door at night, so Momoi decided against it. She would get Megumi a spot in the basketball club that doesn't require real exercise to make up for the misunderstanding.

Aomine noticed Momoi stopping, and also halted in his tracks and following her gaze up at the house. "Satsuki," he called to her, motioning for her to hurry up, not understanding why she was so interested in the place.

Momoi quickly snapped out of her thoughts at hearing her friend's voice. "Oh, right. Sorry, Dai-chan," she sang in her usual bubbly tone, and hastily skipped after him.

"You've been acting distracted lately," Aomine offered casually.

"Hmm? It's nothing, Dai-chan!" Momoi reassured, and the two continued on their way.

* * *

"Megu-chaaaaaaaaan~"

Megumi's eyes instantly became half-lidded upon hearing the familiar voice. Knowing that it was no use, she stopped hiding her face behind a copy of _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ , slammed the book shut and tossed it on her desk in front of her. "What?" she responded irritably, not even turning in direction of the source.

It was the next day and the lunch period had just started. Like the day before, Momoi arrived at Megumi's class to invite her and Aomine to eat together.

"Like I said yesterday, I made a bento for you," the pink-haired girl announced animatedly, skipping over to the space between Aomine and Megumi's desks. From her bag, she produced a neatly decorated bento box that was larger than what the teal-haired girl usually needed and offered it to her.

For a moment, Megumi only looked at it skeptically. She was surprised that, after all that happened the day before, Momoi still remembered to make a bento like she said she would, but since Megumi hadn't taken her seriously to begin with, she had her own lunch packed. "That was unnecessary, Momoi," she stated calmly, reaching for the lunch she made for herself. "I have my own."

As soon as she took out her own bento, Momoi practically pounced on it, "But Megu-chan, you have to try mine," the taller girl protested childishly, stealing Megumi's bento away with a slightly hurt expression. "I made it especially for you…"

"Tch," the gray-eyed girl wore a sour appearance and abruptly turned her head the other way.

"Oh well… I guess Dai-chan and I will have to share it then."

Aomine shuddered when Momoi said that and hastily objected, saying that he was planning on going to see what the cafeteria had today. Before either of the females could protest, he left the room in a hurry, leaving them alone.

Momoi looked genuinely disappointed that neither of her friends wanted to eat the bento with her, and sat down in Aomine's desk with sad, downcast eyes.

Megumi's brow twitched at the sight, and she struggled to not be affected by it.

With her shoulders slumped and a little frown, Momoi slowly took out her chopsticks and started poking dejectedly at the contents of the bento she had made, a curtain of hair hiding her face.

"Fucking hell," Megumi moodily rose from her chair and marched to her acquaintance, took the bento, and set it down on her own desk. "I'll eat the thing, you idiot."

At this, Momoi instantly perked up, her face immediately cheerful and bright like the sun again. "Really, Megu-chan?" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Does that mean I can have your bento, then?"

Megumi opened up her chopsticks packet and waved dismissively at the pink-haired girl as if to say, Yeah, yeah, whatever. "I can't eat that much anyway."

And thus, the two females swapped lunches, and while Momoi eagerly opened the bento she got in exchange for her own, Megumi was taking her time and continuing her book as she poked at the food absentmindedly.

Momoi saw that the lunch Megumi had made was almost just as plain as the one from the day before and just as healthy, with no deserts or deep fried or high in fat foods. Yet, despite its bland appearance, the aroma emitting from it was surprisingly appetizing, and the pink-haired girl curiously picked up a slice of fish before putting it in her mouth.

When Megumi heard a small gasp from beside her, she glanced in Momoi's direction out of the corner of her eye, annoyed with the needless noises the other girl was making. "What is it now?"

The taller girl had frozen after tasting the fish and was now staring blankly ahead as she chewed slowly.

The teal-haired girl raised an eyebrow at her before scowling, "It's not my problem if you don't like my food." Then, she promptly went back to minding her own business again.

"No, no, that's not it at all!" Momoi quickly came out of the trance and waved her hands in front of her frantically, shaking her head. Her eyes gazed down at the bento with wonder.

Megumi had an eyebrow raised once more as she watched but didn't say anything.

"It's just that…" the pink-haired girl flashed a slightly embarrassed smile, "I didn't think this would taste so good, Megu-chan." When Megumi didn't respond or change her facial expression, Momoi continued, "I don't mean that I assumed you'd be a bad cook, but looking at the bento I thought it'd be a bit flavorless, to be honest. It's actually really tasty. What kind of fish did you use?"

Realizing that it was nothing important, Megumi turned her eyes back to the book, acting like she was disinterested in the situation. "Just the normal fish from the market, I think…" she muttered as an answer.

"Any type of high-quality sauce?"

"No, I can't afford that kind of stuff, Momoi," Megumi said in an aggravated voice. "I thought you'd have noticed by now that I'm really not in the position to go out and buy whatever luxurious stuff, like value fish or fancy sauce I want. Not everyone can spend money that leniently. Who do you take me for?"

Noticing that she must have offended her friend, Momoi quickly attempted to make amends, "I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry if you took it that way, but I was just wondering how you got the fish to taste so good and look so ordinary. So, how do you do it?"

Megumi just shrugged at her question and went back to reading. "Don't know."

An imaginary lightning bolt struck Momoi. "What do you mean you 'don't know'?!"

"Satsuki," the teal-haired girl growled, shifting to fully face the other female, "I've been trying to read this same sentence for the last five minutes." She was referring to her book. "Could you please give me some peace?"

Momoi stared at her with her mouth hanging open slightly. Then, catching on about how desperately Megumi was wanting for her to just stop talking, she reluctantly shrank back.

The shorter girl sighed with relief and, while holding up her book, picked some rice from the bento she received from Momoi and put in in her mouth.

Almost instantly, her face went pale, and she violently coughed the food back out again, choking on a few pieces as well.

"Megu-chan, are you okay?"

The rice was like the driest, hardest thing Megumi had every eaten. It had a flavor that suggested that Momoi hadn't washed it thoroughly, and the unpleasant texture was probably for being highly undercooked with not nearly enough water. And now that she paid more attention to the contents of the lunchbox, Megumi noticed that everything in it looked either extremely unhealthy or was cooked in a way that looked inedible.

After dislodging all of the little grains of food from her windpipe, the teal-haired girl's face was contorted in a disgusted scowl as she looked down at the bento. "Do you even know how to cook rice, Momoi?" she demanded. "And what did you do to the curry?" She dipped an end of a chopstick into the brown-red pile of mush with traces of pink that only slightly resembled curry sauce, inspecting it closely.

"Of course I know how to cook rice," Momoi replied defensively. "I knew that you seemed to like strawberry flavored things, so I put some strawberry syrup in the curry—"

Megumi's eyes bugged comically as she hastily dropped the curry covered chopstick. Then, she fixed Momoi with a gaze that read, Are you an idiot?

Momoi only returned her look with innocence, not understanding what was wrong.

Remembering Aomine's reactions when Momoi mentioned cooking, it didn't take long for Megumi to figure out that the boy already knew of the pink-haired girl's disastrous skills in the kitchen and got out of the room while he still had the chance.

Even for someone like Megumi who didn't care much for the tastes of what food she ate, couldn't possibly force herself to eat something as revolting as what had been prepared for her. But as she shifted her gaze to Momoi to yell at her and request to have her own bento back, she noticed how much the taller girl was enjoying her fish and fully cooked rice. Something at the back of Megumi's conscience made her waver in her plans of degrading Momoi, and after a moment of hesitation she sighed and just left it alone.

But the gray-eyed girl didn't know what to do with the horribly made lunch. She wasn't going to eat it all, but Momoi's feelings would surely be hurt if she didn't at least try some of everything. Reluctantly, Megumi held her breath and forced herself to swallow a bit of each type of dish the pink-haired girl had made.

Momoi appeared to be too captivated by Megumi's deliciously cooked bento that she didn't detect the gags the teal-haired girl managed to suppress. By the time the lunch period ended, Momoi had cleared the entire box and still craved some more, "You're a really good cook, Megu-chan," she complimented brightly.

Megumi could only nod weakly. She handed Momoi's bento box back to her and her excuse for not finishing it was, "I don't eat much anyway, Momoi. The bento was too big to begin with."

But Momoi was still satisfied, and Megumi reckoned that she probably made the other female's day, which was a strange feeling since she doesn't ever remember being the one to make someone else cheerier.

* * *

When Aomine found out that Megumi ate Momoi's cooking and even was able to keep Momoi happy afterwards, he couldn't believe his ears.

"It was awful, but I did it," the short girl explained bitterly, as she organized her school supplies and got ready to go home. "It made Momoi gleeful like an idiot, and I don't even know if it was really worth it." She could still taste the flavor of strawberry syrup mixed with undercooked beef, overcooked vegetables, and watery dressing containing far too much soy sauce. The memory made her want to puke.

"When I told her that her cooking was absolute crap, she yelled at me," Aomine recalled with a sigh. "I think you just encouraged her to keep trying."

Megumi let out a moan and rested her forehead on her desk in defeat.

"Are you going to the basketball practice today?" Aomine asked suddenly, catching the teal-haired girl off guard, and she lifted her head from the table with a questioning gaze. The blue-haired boy shrugged at her, "Just asking. Satsuki seems to like having you there."

Gray eyes narrowing into a dull glare, Megumi made a stubborn "hmph" sound before saying, "No. I've already done my good deed of the day by eating her bento. There isn't any need for me to go to the practice. It's not like I have an interest in basketball to begin with."

Aomine looked at her for a moment when she said this, his eyes widened slightly but whatever he was thinking, he decided not to say it and changed the subject. "You know she's trying really hard to get you a manager's position on the team, right?" the male leaned back in her seat and placed his hands behind his head, looking up at the clock that ticked the last few seconds of the school day. "Yesterday, she stayed late after tryouts to talk to the coach."

"So?" Megumi turned her head in the other direction as if she couldn't care less that about what Momoi was doing, but in truth she didn't expect the pink-haired girl to put in so much effort for her sake. It both a fascinated Megumi and annoyed her at the same time. It was a foreign situation to have people do such kind things for her, and it was agitating because it gave her the feeling that she had to do something in return or her pride would be damaged. How troublesome.

The bell that signaled the end of the last class rang, and students began to file out of the classroom. Aomine got up, shouldered his bag, "So, she's going to convince them to give you a spot. And if you're going to be our manager, you should at least go and see what's going on and stuff."

Megumi obstinately shook her head, "No, I'm going home."

The blue-haired sighed but started heading out of the room, waving good-bye without turning around. "Well, I've got to go to practice. See you tomorrow, Akechi."

The teal-haired girl watched his back as he disappeared into the hall and didn't say anything.

"Akechi-san, please come here," Royama-sensei called to Megumi after Aomine was gone, and the girl gritted her teeth as she took bag and books and approached the teacher's desk. Once again, she was the last person left in the room with the sensei.

"About your sports credit…"the older woman started, "have you decided which club to join?"

Megumi lowered her head so that her hair threw a shadow over her eyes. She remained silent since she genuinely had no answer to the question. Should I say basketball? But what if Momoi doesn't get me the manager's job? I don't want to end up having to play the sport. What do I say? What do I say?

Royama-sensei blinked at her owlishly, waiting for a response.

* * *

"After some evaluation with Nijimura and the head coach, I have decided that you were right, Momoi," Sanada mused, sitting on a bench next to the eager pink-haired girl who had rushed to the gym right after the last bell rang. "Taking into account the results of the tryouts yesterday, perhaps first string does need an assistant manager."

Momoi beamed like a child on Christmas morning at the coach's words, immensely satisfied with herself for her persuasion skills. "A good choice, Sanada-san."

"The new recruits this year have extraordinary talent and have the potential to be amazing players under our training. As you have said, the first string is indeed expanding," the head coach said with a nod of finality. "If you would bring Akechi to practice sometime this week—best if I could meet her today, of course—I will have some things prepared for her to do."

The girl practically jumped up from her seat, "I can go find her right now, Sanada-san. Please wait for a few moments," she bowed in thanks before rushing out of the gym if a flurry of pink, so very proud and excited to get dear Megu-chan to forgive her for the whole sports club incident by telling her the good news.


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megumi becomes the water-girl.

"I was thinking… maybe the basketball club…?" Megumi squeaked out with uncertainty, sweating uncontrollably. She had to give an answer or else Royama-sensei might get suspicious. "I could be a manager or…"

The teacher furrowed her eyebrows ever so slightly, "I was not aware that the basketball club needed another manager," she tapped her fingers on her desk thoughtfully. "If I remember correctly, they already have three. I suppose you can try to apply, Akechi, but I can't guarantee that they'll take another—"

"Meguuuuuuuuu-chaaaaaaaaaan~"

Megumi flinched at the loud sing-song beckoning from the hallway. She immediately knew the voice, but had no idea whether to be relieved to hear it or annoyed with it. But nevertheless, it interrupted her uncomfortable conversation with the teacher which Megumi should be grateful for.

Royama-sensei raised an inquiring eyebrow at her gray-eyed student as Momoi skipped past their doorway, calling the teal-haired girl's name cheerfully.

"Oh, there you are, Megu-chan," the pink-haired girl quickly skidded to a stop and danced into the classroom, eyes squinted in a ridiculously happy beam. "I was looking for you, you know."

"How was I supposed to know that?" Megumi deadpanned.

Ignoring her friend's remark, Momoi practically hopped to a spot beside Megumi and, against the other girl's angry protests, linked their arms as if it was something they did all the time and flashed a blinding smile at Royama-sensei. "Good afternoon, sensei," she greeted with a polite bow as Megumi struggled to shake her off. "So sorry for the intrusion, but I have something really important to tell Megumi. Do you mind me speaking to her?"

Royama-sensei didn't look impressed as her eyes narrowed a bit behind her glasses, "I'm sure it can wait a moment; right now I need to know Akechi's choice for athletics."

"She'll be joining the basketball club!" the pink-haired girl chirped with a hint of triumph, before Megumi could even think of a response.

Megumi did a double take while Royama-sensei blinked in surprise. At first, the teal-haired girl showed a delayed reaction. Then, her mouth hung open a little and her widened eyes had completely lost the dull, disinterested glaze it had had before Momoi delivered the news.

When neither the teacher nor her student said anything, the other bubbly female went on, still as animated as always, "Sanada-san just gave his approval for Megumi to become an assistant manager for first string. My name is Momoi Satsuki, and I'm the main manager of the first string. I've come to escort Megumi to the gym." She finished with nod of finality.

"O-oh… Well then, I suppose…" the teacher began but before she could finish, Momoi was heading for the door while dragging Megumi behind her. "…I'll go ahead and tell the sports administration to contact Shirogane-san…"

The two girls had already left the classroom and were out of sight.

Once they got into the hallway, Momoi began power walking Megumi in the direction of the gymnasiums. With their difference in height, Megumi had to jog to keep up with the pink-haired girl's hasty and longer stride, and not to mention that their arms were still locked together so that she, Megumi, had no choice but to go along with the other female.

Megumi was still skeptical about Momoi's claim to have gotten her a manager's job. Her eyelids drooped in doubt. "Royama-sensei said that the basketball team already has a manager for each string. And I definitely didn't make that great of a first impression on the coach yesterday," she looked at Momoi distrustfully. "How did you do it?"

"Hmm?" replied the taller girl. "Does it really matter, Megu-chan? You got the spot, and that means you should be safe from having to play a sport now. I put in some good words for you yesterday and from what I've observed, Sanada-san is the type of man who respects organized and efficient people, people like you. He's really not as scary as he looks. As long as you're polite to him today and don't cause any trouble, he'll totally forget about the incident yesterday. Trust me."

"How did you get him to even _consider_ me? I'm sure I made him very unhappy at the tryouts."

Momoi hesitated at this, not meeting the other girl's eye for a moment before forcing herself to regain her assuring tone, "Just be respectful when I take you to meet him and the captain, okay? It's true that you didn't get along great with Sanada-san yesterday, but he doesn't know that 'Akechi Megumi' is you yet, and I didn't tell him."

"What?" the shorter female's gaze became even more interested than before. In all honesty, though Megumi didn't want to admit it, she was truly a bit awestruck and astonished that Momoi was the type of person to do that; she looked like such an innocent, well-mannered girl who would never trick her elders. After gazing at her with mild wonder for a few seconds, Megumi stated with a straight face and a monotone voice, "You're much cleverer than I thought, Momoi."

"Eh?!" An imaginary arrow plunged into Momoi's heart painfully.

"To think someone like you would actually have the wits and nerve to fool the assistant coach of the basketball club. How scandalous."

Another arrow.

"I thought you were just a naïve little goody-goody, but I guess I judged you incorrectly. You are very sly, Momoi. I must take note to not fall for your future deceits."

A third arrow and Momoi was just about dead on the inside. "You didn't have to phrase it like that, Megu-chan…"

At last, Megumi noticed what her comments had done to the pink-haired girl and was instantly uneasy in the foreign situation of having to deal with a somewhat upset acquaintance. _Great. What do I do? What do I do?_ She frantically tried to think of a solution as it would look very strange if someone were to see them.

Thankfully, they had arrived at the first gym before the silence got too unbearable, and Megumi was saved from have to awkwardly apologize to Momoi when a tall, black-haired boy who appeared to be a grade or two older than the first-year girls appeared in the doorway of the athletics building. His narrow eyes landed on the two of them.

"There you are, Momoi," he said.

"Ah, Nijimura-san," Momoi perked up, her voice resuming its cheerfulness, making Megumi blink in surprise. "I've brought our new manager."

Megumi stiffened visibly as she recognized the older male as one of the players who had been practicing when she made a commotion in the gym yesterday. He would recognize her as well, and inform the head coach of who "Akechi Megumi" really was, and the coach will refuse to even speak with her about the manager position, and then Megumi would have no choice but to join some other nightmare of a club where she would actually have to exercise.

Because of the paranoia that came with this unfavorable sequence of events unfolding in her brain, Megumi overlooked how she was supposed to act while greeting a senior and only stared at the boy wearily.

"I see," Nijimura's silver irises landed on the small teal-haired girl beside Momoi. At first, he didn't seem to find anything interesting about her, other than that she was rudely glaring at him as if he had stolen her lunch money or something. But he abruptly did a double take when he, as Megumi predicted, noticed that the new manager was the girl who had disturbed the tryouts the day before.

Momoi only smiled innocently and gave Megumi a little push, presenting her to the captain, "This is Akechi Megumi, Nijimura-san. She's looking forward to helping the team in the future."

Both Megumi and Nijimura threw matching dirty looks in the pink-haired girl's direction that spoke along the lines of " _Are you kidding me_?"

"Sanada-san will not accept this," the male said to Momoi.

"But Sanada-san has already approved," insisted the taller of the two first years before him. "He supposed that first-string could make use of an extra manager and even asked me to find Megumi so that he could give her some work to do. You even said yourself that having another manager wouldn't do any harm."

Nijimura crossed his arms and shook his head still, "That was before either of us knew who you were talking about. All you gave was a name and said that she was organized and responsible."

"Because she is!"

"Can you all not talk about me like I'm not here?" Megumi interjected irritably, but her comment was blatantly ignored.

"Megu-chan would make a great manager, trust me, Nijimura-san," Momoi just refused to give up, not when she had been so close. "If you disregard what happened yesterday, she's really a great person. Just let her in the club for a week or two, and you and the coaches will see. She can carry water bottles, hand out towels, help clean the gym, schedule practice games, donate to training camp funds..."

An imaginary lightning bolt brutally struck Megumi, and she frantically gestured for Momoi to stop making all these empty promises that she, Megumi, would eventually end up having to keep, but the pink-haired girl paid no attention to her. Megumi looked to the sky in despair, wandering what she had done to warrant the wrath of the fates.

"Shirogane-san is attending practice today and is currently overseeing the players, and he will have some things to say about this also," Nijimura was informing Momoi, not having budged an inch from his previous attitude about Megumi's admittance into the basketball club.

Momoi's eyes lit up at that small piece of information. "Ah, good, Shirogane-san will surely understand." She swiftly darted past Nijimura with Megumi in tow and opened the door to the gym.

Shirogane hadn't been present during yesterday's practice, so with some words from the pink-haired girl, he will certainly accept Megumi, and the decision of the head coach would overrule that of both the assistant one and the captain. This was Momoi's chance.

Megumi was once again dragged along by her acquaintance with Nijimura following closely behind them, voicing his protests. They approached the two coaches—a younger one that Megumi recognized from yesterday and an older one she was not familiar with.

Sanada's brow knitted together slightly at seeing Megumi in the gym again and looked to Momoi for an explanation.

Momoi wore her most agreeable smile, "I have brought our new manager, Sanada-san. She's looking forward to give her support to the basketball club." She then subtly nudged Megumi with an arm.

At first, Megumi didn't know what the nudge was for, but she quickly caught on. Trying to sound as polite as possible, she formally introduced herself and bowed to the coaches. Feeling their gazes heavy on her, little beads of sweat began to form on her temple. She could sense Sanada's disapproval and waited for him to express his unhappiness about this situation.

But Momoi quickly leapt forth and kept talking before the assistant coach could get a word out. "Shirogane-san, you haven't met Megu-chan yet, but she has a lot she can offer to our program. She's super organized and responsible and hard-working, and Sanada-san has already permitted her entrance into the club."

The man called Shirogane looked pleasant enough. He wore a gentle smile and appeared a lot friendlier than his assistant. Holding his hand out to Megumi for a shake, he said with a nod, "Yes, yes, Sanada has told me about you already, Akechi. Based on what Momoi has reported, we're glad to have you."

Simultaneously, Momoi beamed brightly while Megumi let out a tiny breath she didn't realize she was holding, and Sanada as well as Nijimura opened their mouths to object. "Wait, Shirogane-san, there's something you should—" Sanada started.

The older coach shook his head, that smile still present on his face, and held a hand up for silence. "You have approved of this, haven't you, Sanada?"

"Yes—but—"

"Then, there is nothing more to say," Shirogane concluded briefly. "If Akechi does have all the qualities you describe, then we mustn't dismiss such a great asset to our team. I say we give her a chance."

Megumi raised an eyebrow at how indulging the head coach was. If Megumi had been in his position, she would have listened to the complaints of her assistant. Suspicion creeped into the girl's mind as she studied Shirogane's calm smile but, in the end, decided not to say anything. What's most important at the moment is getting the manager's position and escaping forced exercise for as long as possible.

Sanada stared at the other coach incredulously before reluctantly lowering his gaze. He turned to the two first-year girls before him, "Momoi, if you would, please start your duties and show Akechi how it's done."

"I will, Sanada-san," the pink-haired girl nodded enthusiastically. "Come along now, Megu-chan." Letting go of Megumi's arm, she grabbed a few baskets of yellow plastic water bottles and beckoned for the shorter girl to follow her.

Megumi scoffed as Momoi sounded like she was coaxing a child or a cat, but the scoff greatly lacked its usual bite. The teal-haired girl wondered why that was while she followed Momoi out of the gym and escaped the presence of the coaches. She looked at the back of her acquaintance's pink head for a brief while, trying to figure out why she felt the slightest hint of softness for the obnoxiously optimistic and bubbly girl walking ahead of her.

Maybe it was because Momoi had just rescued her from an entire year of hellish torture playing on a sports team. Perhaps it was also how amazingly long the pink-haired female had managed to cling onto Megumi as an acquaintance and had even, at one point, been labeled as "friend" on Megumi's imaginary relationship scale. That is something interesting, maybe even interesting enough for Megumi to make an effort to continue associating with Momoi. The grey-eyed girl nodded to herself determinedly. Yes, she will try to put some attempt into their friendship—but only a little.

* * *

Little did Megumi know that being an "assistant manager" basically meant "water girl."

The teal-haired female gritted her teeth as she struggled in carrying two baskets stuffed with filled up water bottles back toward the gym. She impatiently blew a stray strand of hair out of her face while muttering colorful profanities about at how inconveniently heavy water could be. Just as Megumi swore that her stick-like arms were going to fall off, she arrived at the door to the gym and breathed a sigh of relief before hastily putting the bottles on the ground next to where the assistant coach was standing, looking over a clipboard.

When Momoi came back with the other water bottles, she, Nijimura, and Megumi stood by as the players that had been scattered around the gym before gathered in front of Sanada. Some of the boys were fidgeting nervously and others were whispering amongst themselves words that Megumi couldn't quite hear.

The stone-faced assistant coach cleared his throat to catch the attention of the players and glances at his clipboard briefly before raising his gaze back up, "I will now announce the test results from yesterday. First, third string." He proceeded to call out a list of names along with the players' jersey numbers.

Megumi didn't know much about how the Teiko basketball team rankings worked, but she was aware that third string was for the lowest skill level while first string was for the highest. She estimated that if she were to try out, she wouldn't even make it into third string. They'd probably kick her out of their sacred gym because she was so bad.

Once Sanada was finished with the exceedingly long list, those whose names had been announced, who only made third string, stood off to the side away from those whose name had yet to be called. There were a lot of them; over half of the boys who tried out didn't even make second string.

"Next, second string," the assistant coach went on.

The number of people who were skilled enough for second string made up a grand total of three and once those three formed a group of their own, only four players remained who had not been called.

"Next I will announce the first string members."

Megumi was almost dozing off at this point, and she was snapped back to attention only by the loud murmurs and bewildered whispers that broke out through the gym when Sanada said that he was going to announce the first string. She disinterestedly lifted one eyelid open to glance at her surroundings and saw Aomine as well as Midorima Shintaro and two other boys that she did not recognize still standing in the center of the gym.

"#8, Aomine Daiki; #11, Midorima Shintaro; #23, Murasakibara Atsushi; #29, Akashi Seijuro," Sanada set down the clipboard and crossed his arms. "That is all."

Some stared at the four freshmen who made first string with awe while other glared at them in envy. Megumi's eyes were dull and neutral as she scanned all their faces momentarily. Momoi on the other hand looked as if she was barely containing her excitement and pride about Aomine's success.

Afterwards, both the third and second string members were led by another coach to separate gyms, leaving only the first string behind. Then, the members of first string, who were second and third years arrived, for practice, and Megumi and Momoi were instructed to get towels and buckets from the closet.

"What are the buckets for?" the shorter of the two girls questioned with a skeptical scowl as Momoi opened the door to the large storage room.

"It's in case someone throws up," she replied nonchalantly. Not looking back to see Megumi's reaction to that piece of information, Momoi picked up two large plastic pails and held them out to the other girl as if the need for such large buckets at a basketball practice was perfectly normal.

Taking the buckets with shaky hands, Megumi's left eye twitched, and she tried to force a nervous smile while hoping that Momoi wasn't serious. "You're kidding, right?" she asked, almost afraid of knowing the answer.

"No, I'm not kidding," the pink-haired girl was now holding a stack of clean white towels she had gotten from a high shelf and already heading back to the practice. "The training menu for all the strings are brutal, but first string's is the hardest. Apparently, it's not uncommon for newcomers to vomit from the intensity of the first few practices. After a week or so, they'll get used to it."

Megumi had now gone completely pale. She gulped before following her friend out of the storage room.

* * *

At the end of the day, nobody vomited, which was a great relief to Megumi and a fascinating occurrence for Momoi. The teal-haired girl sighed exasperatedly as she put the unused buckets back where they belonged in the storage room and picked up her school bag from where it had been dropped on a bench at the beginning of practice, eager to go back home. She left the gym without saying good-bye to anyone.

But just as she was about to reach the school gates, an all too familiar feminine voice sang her name. The gray-eyed girl froze in her tracks with a quiet groan and turned around even though she already knew who it was.

Momoi was walking toward her, waving animatedly, and Aomine was with her.

Megumi thought about running. Considering the other two first years were quite a ways behind her, if Megumi sprinted out of the gates, she could probably lose them around the next corner. Nodding to herself, thinking that it was a good idea, she tensed her legs and prepared to make a run for it, but a thought quickly brought doubt into her mind, and her body twitched as her mind was undecided.

 _On second thought, both Momoi and Aomine are probably faster at running than me,_ she thought, her eyelids drooping, unimpressed with her own idea. _Also, they'll probably last longer than me. I'll never outrun them. How troublesome._

At last, Megumi simply settled for sighing in defeat and stopped walking to wait for Momoi and Aomine.

"Want to walk home together, Megu-chan?" the pink-haired girl offered cheerily. "We're going in the same direction after all."

Megumi raised an eyebrow at her, not fully turning in her direction, "Are we?"

Momoi nodded, "Dai-chan and I pass by your street on our way home. It's no trouble, really."

"It's also not safe to walk around alone when it's dark," Aomine added, referring to sun that had just set a few minutes ago.

Biting her bottom lip in indecision, Megumi whipped her head away from the two. She really didn't like being put in a social position, and walking home with someone, no matter how simple of an act it was, was still a situation where she was expected to make conversation. Megumi hated that. With her blunt personality and inability to fake smiles or interest, everyone she comes into contact with finds themselves feeling unwanted and uncomfortably awkward.

But Aomine had a point about wandering the streets alone at night. However, Megumi had been going to and from school alone for almost her entire life, so she doesn't think much of it anymore. Although, she had to admit that Teiko Middle School was further from her house than her elementary school was. Thus, the chances of danger increases.

"…Fine," she muttered almost inaudibly, but Momoi heard it.

"Let's go, then," Aomine led the way out of the gate while Momoi stuck to his side, and Megumi trailed a bit behind them.

Aomine and Momoi immediately struck up a conversation with each other about basketball while Megumi, who had no interest in and little knowledge about the topic, kept quiet and did not attempt to squeeze herself into their discussion.

The teal-haired girl picked up a book from her school bag and started to read it as she walked, hoping that she would be spared from having to make conversation or talk about sports for the next fifteen minutes she will have to spend with the two other members of the basketball club. She drowned out the sound of Aomine and Momoi's voices and focused on the first sentence of the book: " _I remember the day the Aleut ship came to our island—"_

"Megu-chaaan, what are you reading?" the pink-haired girl asked, sticking her nose over Megumi's shoulder curiously.

Megumi almost dropped the paperback in alarm at how close and loud Momoi's voice was. Once she took a deep breath and calmed herself, the end of her right eyebrow twitched subtly, and she clenched her teeth to resist spatting out an unpleasant retort. Though she didn't want to bother answering, she closed her eyes and sighed before replying calmly, "It's about a girl who's stuck on an island alone for twenty years." She did not elaborate more.

Momoi studied the cover, brows furrowed with concentration, and Megumi couldn't tell if she was faking her interest or not. "This doesn't look like a Japanese book," the taller girl observed, glancing at the author's foreign name. "O-Oderu Sukotto…" she pronounced it uncertainly.

"Yes, Oderu Sukotto," Megumi held her hand out for the book, rolling her eyes a little, "Can I have it back now?"

The pink-haired girl took one last look before giving the novel back. "Now that you've joined the basketball club," she said, "you need to know the basics of the actual sport. Since you like reading, I'm sure Dai-chan has some books on basketball at his house that you can borrow."

"I wouldn't call them books, really, more like magazines," Aomine pointed out with a shrug.

Momoi knew that her blue-haired childhood friend was just trying to be helpful, but she honestly didn't see how basketball magazines were going to help Megumi learn about the sport. "I don't think that'll work, Dai-chan. I was thinking more of an organized guide to basketball for beginners'."

"You said Akechi's smart, right?" the tall boy asked, looking down at Momoi. "She can probably figure out how basketball works from looking at the pictures in my magazines."

"But Megu-chan's probably never even seen a game on TV before," the taller of the two girl's protested, brows knitted together with worry. "She might not even know how many teams play against each other in one game."

"Hey!" Megumi growled loudly upon hearing this. "Of course, I know how many teams play in one game: two," she argued as her face went red. "Am I that stupid to you?"

"But do you know how many players there are on each team?"

The teal-haired girl faltered abruptly, and she recoiled back as if stung by Momoi's question. "Uh…" Scratching the side of her head and narrowing her eyes, Megumi muttered to herself for a while, trying to come up with the right answer. "… Six…"

"No, it's five," Momoi corrected. She then turned to Aomine before gesturing in Megumi's direction—the shorter girl clutching her head distraughtly at having gotten the question wrong—as if to say " _do you see how helpless this child is_."

Megumi almost let out a sigh of relief when her house came into view and instinctively sped up her pace, quickly leaving Aomine and Momoi behind. "Oh, look, there's my place," she announced as casually as she could muster. "Anyways, see you tomorrow, have a good night, good-bye." And with that, she fumbled with her keys for two seconds before practically running into her house and slamming the door closed again.

Aomine and Momoi both blinked blankly at the door of dark colored wood that had just been shut in their faces before exchanging looks with each other. Aomine shrugged at her, and Momoi did the same in response, and the two childhood friends resumed their journey.

"Is it just me, or does Akechi really not like us?" the blue haired male asked with a raised eyebrow. "Did we do something?"

Momoi shook her head, "Megu-chan's just like that most of the time. She doesn't get out much, as you can probably tell. Not to mention, she lives alone, so that must have some kind of impact on her social skills."

"Hah? Is it even legal for a twelve-year-old to live by themselves?"

"Well, she doesn't actually live by herself," the pink-haired female corrected herself, looking down at the ground while walking, tapping her chin with a finger. "She has a mom, but her mom is really busy most of the time. I think she works during the day as an assistant at one of the hospitals around here and takes nightly courses at a college nearby, so usually when she's home, Megu-chan is already asleep."

"How do you even know this?"

"Megu-chan told me."

"Oh."

They carried on in silence until they reached Momoi's house. Finally, the girl spoke again, "She's not as sensitive about it as you may think, Dai-chan, but it'd be better if you don't tell her that I told you about her family, okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Aomine walked his friend up to the front door of her house. The lights inside were on and the sound of dishes being washed and pleasant conversation could be heard faintly—such a sharp contrast to Megumi's dark and lonely house, the boy realized.

"Oh, one more thing, Dai-chan," Momoi turned back toward him just before entering her home, "if you can, please try and teach some of the basics of basketball to Megu-chan tomorrow? She doesn't have to play, but she needs to at least know how the scoring system works and stuff like that."

Aomine sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as he wondered how best to approach the hermit Megumi about this, but nodded at Momoi, and the two friends parted ways.


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Murasakibara likes Megumi already.

"What the hell is this?"

"Basketball magazines. Satsuki asked me to teach you how basketball works, so these might help."

Megumi took some time to opening glower at Aomine before snapping her book shut with an irritated sigh. She picked up the first magazine from the top of the fairly large pile the boy had placed on her desk and gazed at the cover with bored eyes. Wrinkling her nose at the sweaty guy on the front, she reluctantly flipped to a random page.

Class started in fifteen minutes, so she had some time.

The page depicted a profile of a popular player from the national team with several pictures and a page long article. The profile labeled the player's position as "center," which meant nothing to Megumi for she did not know what a "center" was.

"If you have any questions, ask me," Aomine said as he sat down in his chair and started scanning through his latest volume of _Basketball Monthly._

Megumi only replied with a grunt without taking her eyes away from her own magazine. Then, not even a minute later, she snapped her head in the blue-haired boy's direction, "What's a center?"

"It's the guy who guards the area underneath the basket," Aomine clarified briefly, not even looking up from his reading material.

"Why would he do that?"

"To get rebounds and play defense mostly."

"Now what the fuck's a rebound?"

"Getting your hands on the ball right after a missed shot."

"So you can just take the ball if it misses?"

"Yeah, but don't make a foul." He quickly added before Megumi could open her mouth again, "That means not pushing or holding back other players while getting the rebound."

The teal-haired girl stayed silent for a while as she forced herself to read a few more paragraphs of the article, face pinched in an unattractive scowl as she did so. "Is there a certain way you have to make the shot too? Or…?" she asked in a sarcastic and half-hearted tone as if she didn't even really caring about the answer to her own question.

The boy sitting next to her furrowed his blue brows as if even he had to think about that. Then, he broke into a slightly sheepish grin and scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "There is, but I kind of just throw it in."

"'Just throw it in'?" Megumi muttered Aomine's response to herself with an unimpressed quirk of one of her eyebrows. "You're saying you can get the ball into the net without a conventional form?" Though she knew little about basketball itself, Megumi's common sense told her that having an inconsistent form in any sport leads to bad habits while playing. "How much can you rely on a shot that's different every time?"

Aomine shrugged like he didn't know how he did it either. "It's just easier for me. I actually score better with formless shots than regular ones."

"How is that possible?" Megumi retorted with a haughty sniff. She refused to believe it—something so illogical. _Even a child knows that an established form that is practiced repetitively is more dependable than not having any consistency._ Crossing her arms stubbornly, the girl stuck nose in the air snootily.

She was quickly beginning to realize that this wasn't going to work; she and Aomine's ways of thinking are far too different. There's no way she'll properly learn anything about basketball from him since the sport just seemed more like an instinct to the dark-skinned male than anything else, not something he can simply explain to Megumi in a way that she would understand; to him, shooting a ball into the basket was merely "throwing it in." For a strictly logical person who makes judgement based on facts rather than feeling, like Megumi, she could never truly understand what he means.

Letting out a sigh of frustration, the teal-haired girl placed her magazine back onto the top of the pile on her desk and rubbed her eyelids. She glanced up at the clock hopefully and was relieved to see that class would begin very soon, so she will not have to discuss basketball any further with Aomine. But still, Megumi knew that she needed to be taught how basketball works by somebody, otherwise she would look like an idiot during practice, and Akechi Megumi was _not_ an idiot.

Aomine too must have realized that he would have a difficult time communicating with someone like Megumi who has such a contrasting way of thinking from him, because he started looking a bit impatient as well. As he thought about whether to give up and face Momoi's wrath later or keep trying with the gray-eyed girl, his gaze wandered to a certain green-headed, glasses-wearing boy sitting in the seat behind Megumi. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.

Megumi didn't miss the look of hope that crossed Aomine's face and turned see what he was looking at.

Midorima Shintaro sat quietly, flipping through a notebook, and a large peacock feather stuck out of his backpack that hung from his chair. His left hand was taped again, and Megumi made the completely irrelevant observation that he was left-handed as he scribbled something down with the hand wrapped in white bandages.

Remembering that Midorima had made the first string of the team yesterday, Megumi immediately knew what Aomine was thinking and before she could stop him, the blue-eyed male approached the other boy who sat in the desk diagonal from him.

The carrot-headed boy looked up from his writing, eyes narrowed in slight suspicion when Aomine greeted him friendlily. But he still closed his notebook and pushed up his glasses a little before giving the taller boy his attention reluctantly. "What is it, nanodayo?"

"Would you mind doing me a favor?" Aomine asked and pointed at Megumi, "That's Akechi, by the way."

"We know each other," Megumi informed, both her voice and facial expression deadpan. "Midorima Shintaro," she said his name as an unenthusiastic greeting.

"Akechi Megumi," Midorima responded in an identically dry tone, white light from the windows casting a glare over one of the lenses of his glasses. He didn't spend too much time looking at Megumi before turning his gaze back to Aomine, brows furrowing, "What kind of favor?"

Aomine slung an arm around the other male's shoulders as if they were all buddy-buddy—Midorima instantly leaned away from him slightly, but did not bother to shove the arm off—and went on, "I'm trying to explain basketball to Akechi, but she doesn't get it."

 _Don't make me sound like a simpleton!_ A vein popped in Megumi's temple at this, and she clenched her fists while shooting daggers at Aomine through her eyes, but forced herself not to say anything to him. Instead she turned her attention to the male sitting behind her, watching him out of the corner of her eye. She can tell that Midorima can figure out what Aomine would ask, and the teal-haired girl expected him to blatantly refuse.

"You want me to teach her how basketball works," the green-eyed boy concluded briefly.

Aomine sensed his reluctance, "Come on, help a teammate out, Midorima. Besides, you guys seem like you'd get along. I think you have the same mindset about shooting, so talk about that."

The end of one of Midorima's eyebrows twitched subtly, while Megumi placed at hand over her eyes to hide her face.

"Akechi'll be a manager for our team soon," Aomine continued. "It'd be really embarrassing to have a manager who's clueless about basketball, right?"

"That is true, but I still don't see why I have to be the one to do it, nanodayo. Try Akashi."

"Akashi isn't in our class, so it'd be more trouble. Just teach Akechi about fouls and stuff like that. It shouldn't be too hard."

Midorima shifted his gaze to watch Megumi out of the corner of his eye; the girl was facing so that he was staring at the back of her head. Despite the fact that he himself was doing it, Midorima knew that the grudges they appeared to be holding toward each other were rather juvenile. Because he was obviously the more mature of the two, he pushed up his glasses again, letting out a disinclined sigh of defeat, before fixing Aomine with a half-hearted glare, "Fine."

A tiny twitch of Megumi's ears didn't go unnoticed by Midorima, but the teal-haired girl did not turn around in his direction, though she obviously heard him.

Aomine thanked him all too cheerfully and then went back to his seat in time for their homeroom teacher to walk through the door.

Megumi did not pay Midorima any attention for the rest morning.

* * *

After the end of fourth period, Megumi had barely even unwrapped her bento before Momoi danced into her classroom for her daily lunchtime visit.

Midorima had left to go to the cafeteria probably, so Megumi was the only person left in the room, hoping for a nice and peaceful, in-doors lunch. A slight grimace found its way onto her lips while she dug through her bag for her boxed meal as she thought about the bespectacled boy agreeing to teach her basketball. She didn't like the idea but was aware that she had no choice.

Even a manager has to know something about the sports club she's in, and she didn't want to have to explain her situation to some random classmate then hope that they are willing to educate her about basketball. _Better Aomine or Midorima Shintaro than a stranger_.

Megumi found her bento and placed it on her desk just as Momoi swung the door to the classroom open, startling the grey-eyed girl so much that she jumped in her seat.

"Megu-chan, let's go to the cafeteria!" the intruder announced, already striding from the entryway toward Megumi's desk, where said girl had buried her face in her hands.

"Please no."

"Hmm?" Momoi's eyes glimmered with curiosity, "What's wrong, Megu-chan? There're a couple of people I want to introduce you to."

Megumi didn't even give a decipherable reply; she just groaned pitifully.

Understanding lit up the pink-haired girl's face, and she gave Megumi a reassuring smile, "Oh, that's right, Megu-chan, you don't like meeting new people. Don't worry about a thing—I'll do all the talking, okay?" Her hands had latched around other female's left sleeve. "There's nothing wrong with being shy~"

"I'm not shy," Megumi instantly growled back. "I just hate having to make small-talk."

"I told you I'll do all the talking, didn't I?" Momoi said it as if making small-talk was her greatest and most admirable talent. "I can keep the conversation going, so you don't have to say anything you don't want to."

"… Don't wanna…"

"Come on, Megu-chan," Momoi was already slowly pulling her out of her chair, "they're part of the first-string team, so you're going to have to meet them sooner or later. Just think about it as 'getting it over with.'"

"Tch," Megumi grudgingly admitted to herself that Momoi had a point. She quickly jerked her uniform sleeve out of the other girl's grasp, though not violently, and picked up her still unopened lunch before sluggishly following Momoi into the hallway.

The cafeteria was just around the corner, so Megumi didn't have much time to grumble her complaints before being forced into a seat next to a long white table, right beside—oh, what do you know?—Midorima fucking Shintaro.

Momoi settled in the chair on Megumi's other side, and Aomine was across from the pink-haired girl, disinterestedly poking at a tray of food with a fork. Across from Megumi was the most monstrously tall middle-school student the gray-eyed girl had ever seen—he made even Midorima and Aomine look like midgets. A starkly smaller boy with crimson hair sat across from Midorima, his composed and alert demeanor a harsh contrast from the lazy, bored aura coming from the giant sitting next to him.

"Megu-chan," Momoi's voice snapped her out of her observations, "that's Akashi Seijuro-kun, and this is Murasakibara Atsushi-kun. They're both in my class. Akashi-kun, Mu-kun, this is Akechi Megumi."

The person known as Akashi smiled politely, and acknowledged Megumi with a nod, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Akechi."

Megumi suddenly remembered that Midorima and Aomine mentioned someone called Akashi back in the classroom. According to Midorima, Akashi could be another option for Megumi to get herself educated about basketball. The teal-haired girl awkwardly nodded back, but did not say that it was a pleasure to meet him too.

"Hmm? Momo-chin is finally introducing us to the Megu-chan she always talks about?" the big guy who Momoi introduced as Murasakibara paused in the process of shoveling rice into his mouth to study the small, pale girl in front of him. "Ne, I'll call you Gumi-chin, then."

 _Gumi-chin!? That's even worse than "Megu-chan!"_ But before Megumi could opening express her displeasure with the nickname, the other girl sitting with them spoke up.

"I told you not to call me, Momo-chin, Mu-kun!" Momoi chastised, mildly exasperated as if she had had to repeat herself many times before. "It's not a good nickname!"

Murasakibara's eyebrows shot up with mild surprise and genuine perplexity, though his eyes remained half-lidded, "What's wrong with 'Momo-chin?'"

"I just… don't like it," Momoi explained weakly, crossing her arms. "It doesn't sound right."

Murasakibara scratched his cheek and looked off into an imaginary thought bubble, "Would Momo-chin like to be called Sa-chin, instead? Or Tsuki-chin?"

Momoi pondered about it, her hand underneath her chin, "I guess 'Sa-chin' is fine…"

Seeing that Murasakibara wasn't as persistent about nicknames as some people, Megumi quickly attempted to grab this chance and ask for him to change 'Gumi-chin' to something less embarrassing, but before she could get a word out, she was interrupted again when Midorima cleared his throat and for some reason, Megumi knew the noise was directed at her.

"What?" she muttered quietly in response, not meeting his eyes and acting like she wasn't the least bit interested in what he was going to say.

Midorima scoffed softly at Megumi's behavior and closed his eyes before pushing his glasses up. "I'll be in the library tomorrow before first period starts, so if you want to learn about basketball, be there, nanodayo. If you don't show up, you're on your own."

"Tch," Megumi's face involuntarily formed a scowl, but she didn't refuse his offer. "Whatever." Without another word, she turned her full attention to her bento and quickly unwrapped it before lifting off the lid.

Murasakibara's nose twitched the instant he caught a whiff of the contents of Megumi's lunchbox, but the owner of the bento didn't seem to notice his reaction as she realized that she forgotten her chopsticks in the classroom.

Megumi let out a low sound of frustration and ran her hands through her hair, causing stray strands of teal locks to stick out at strange angles. "Fucking hell," she started to get out of her seat to go back to the classroom, "I left my chopsticks in my bag."

"There're chopsticks over by the lunch line," Aomine informed nonchalantly, pointing his eating utensil over his shoulder at the short queue of students waiting to buy a school meal.

It was slightly more convenient than going back to the classroom, so Megumi heeded his words. "Thanks," she muttered without even realizing she said it until she had walked away from the table toward the lunch line.

As soon as she left, Murasakibara leaned over the table slightly to get a look at her bento box, which was still open as if beckoning him to take a peek. "Something smells really good in Gumi-chin's bento… Do you think she'd mind if I tried some?" he asked childishly, already reaching toward it with his chopsticks.

Momoi practically jumped out of her seat in order to protect Megumi's lunch. "No, Mu-kun! Megu-chan needs all the nutrients she can get! She doesn't eat much to begin with, so you can't go taking her share!"

Aomine quirked an eyebrow, "But didn't you eat her bento just yesterd—"

"That's different, Dai-chan!" Momoi protested, placing her hands on her hips. "I gave her my bento in return for hers, so it's an equal trade."

An sweat drop appeared on Aomine's temple as he thought about the massive difference in quality between the two girls' cooking. Megumi's food looked normal enough, smelled exceptionally good, and, from what he heard from Momoi, also tasted delicious. Momoi, on the other hand, made meals that looked like vomit, smelled strange, and tasted horrid.

 _Right…_ he thought, _an_ equal _trade._

The moment Megumi sat back down in her seat between Momoi and Midorima, Murasakibara asked bluntly and without any hesitation, "Ne, Gumi-chin, can I have your shrimp?"

"Eh?" The grey-eyed girl was honestly caught off guard, and an imaginary question mark popped up above her head as she stared quizzically at Murasakibara.

The direct and un-sugarcoated request caused something to snap inside Megumi. It was a completely sincere and authentic question. Murasakibara wasn't trying to coax or trick Megumi into giving him food—he was unabashedly asking, not caring a bit about what kind of impression he was making on Megumi. He wanted to eat something from her bento, and so he asked for it.

One of the reasons Megumi dislikes talking to people is that she could see right through their faked interest and slightly panicky efforts at keeping a conversation going with her. She hated answering questions when she can tell that the person who asked didn't really care about the response—they just wanted to avoid awkward silence. She hated making pointless small talk when it's obvious that she and the person she is talking to had nothing in common. She hated when people tried so hard to make a positive first impression, and they think they have her fooled with their practiced and plastic smiles and false curiosity in her hobbies, family, etc.

Most people would be more cautious and overly polite when requesting something of someone they just met, but Murasakibara was straightforward and utterly genuine. He didn't attempt to bring up the question in a round-about way, nor did he attempt to get on Megumi's "good side" before asking. No wasted breaths or small talk. He wasn't trying to make Megumi like him—in fact, he probably couldn't care less of Megumi's opinion of him. He wasn't desperately trying to make a good impression, and for some reason that made Megumi instantly favor him.

"My… shrimp?" She gazed down at the little compartment of her lunchbox where said food was located. After a moment, she sighed, deciding that she wasn't very hungry anyway, and transferred all of the shrimp in her bento into Murasakibara's bowl. "Fine, take it."

Murasakibara beamed like a satisfied child, a hint of excitement actually showing in his lazy eyes, while Momoi sputtered, her face going white as a sheet.

"Megu-chan! How can you do that? Protein, you need protein!"

The teal-haired girl's face twisted into an irritable and overwhelmed scowl. "I don't want protein," she countered with a simple and, frankly, rather immature response.

"Mu-kun, give those back to Megu-chan! She's practically a sack of bones—" Murasakibara, with the ends of his chopsticks still in his mouth, shook his head disobediently.

When both Megumi and Murasakibara blatantly ignored her protests, Momoi let out an exasperated sigh and wore a small pout as she went back to her own lunch. However, just as she had promised, she made sure that Megumi was never forced to speak or maintain conversation. She filled up the silence that the grey-eyed girl left, doing enough talking for the both of them, and Megumi simply ate her lunch while quietly observing the behaviors of each of the five people sitting around her.

* * *

The class Megumi had after lunch was art that day, and she arrived at the art room early after only finishing half her bento before not feeling like eating anymore. A few other students were there, but Megumi didn't try to talk to them as she dropped her stuff next to the end of one of the long tables that filled the room and pulled out her sketchbook. She spent ten minutes drawing random sketches of arms and hands before the bell rang to inform the students that they need to get to the first of their afternoon classes. As the hallways filled with noise and more people sauntered into the art room, Megumi didn't even look up from her work until she sensed a presence behind her and noticed a shadow looming over her.

"Whoa! That's really good. Did you draw that?" inquired a male voice that sounded way too cheerful for Megumi's liking.

The teal-haired girl abruptly stopped the movements of her pencil, paused and didn't turn around for two seconds to let the person notice on his own how stupid of a question he had just asked, realized that the guy was dense as a block of lead, and finally whipped her head around so quickly that he jumped back to avoid getting smacked by her braid.

"No, I'm just tracing my pencil over someone else's drawing for fun," she deadpanned, though her dark glare betrayed her sarcasm.

The boy standing behind her, who was probably looking over her shoulder at her sketchbook, had bright blonde hair and sunny golden eyes. He radiated so much optimism and positive force that Megumi was sure he's related to Momoi somehow. Even after how Megumi had just spoken to him, he still maintained a smile, though a somewhat sheepish one now.

"Oh," he scratched the back of his neck and laughed awkwardly. It was good that he seemed to be able to read the situation and figure out that Megumi wasn't happy about something he did, otherwise the grey-eyed girl would have felt even more pissed. "That was a pretty bad question wasn't it? You drew it obviously."

"Exactly." The frown creases between her brows softened ever so slightly, but Megumi's eyes were still narrowed sharper than usual as she looked the boy up and down.

Perhaps the first words that popped up into the pale girl's mind as she inspected him more closely were "conventionally attractive." He had a very "pretty" face, the type of face she sometimes saw on the covers of books found in the shoujo manga section at her favorite bookstore and was tall too—not monstrously tall like Murasakibara, but the perfect height that most would find masculine and classy at the same time. Judging from his confident aura, Megumi instantly knew he was not only physically attractive, but also charismatic and great at socializing.

"Let's start over," the blonde boy said and if he was bothered by Megumi's scrutinizing stare, he didn't show it, or maybe he was used to being looked at, as handsome as he was. He flashed a smile and friendlily held out his hand, "Kise Ryota."

Megumi made a "tch" noise and turned her head to the side, but still returned his gesture and shook his hand, "Akechi Megumi."

A long silence followed, and while Megumi was accustomed to it enough to not be bothered by the awkward atmosphere, Kise clearly was not used to his conversations going dead so quickly. Once he discerned that the teal-haired girl wasn't going make any attempt to talk to him, he filled the silence enthusiastically, "So, what are your hobbies, Akechi-chan?"

At this point, Megumi would have bet her precious house that Kise and Momoi were related, and her fingers clenched harder around her sketching pencil as she debated whether or not to ignore the boy or answer him. In any case, at least this Kise Ryota called her by a completely normal and respectable name, though just "Akechi" would have been best.

"Reading… Drawing…" she gestured weakly to her notebook.

"What do you like reading?"

"… Mostly western literature."

"Do you play any sports?"

A dark and ominous aura erupted from the area immediately around Megumi, and Kise twitched in fear as a shadow fell over her face and she replied in an eerily quiet, almost threatening voice, "Don't speak to me of the 'S' word."

"R-right…"

Thankfully, the bell that announced the start of the first afternoon class rang just then, and Kise had an excuse to leave and find himself a seat a few rows back from Megumi's.

Once his was gone, the girl realized that that was possibly the most normal socializing she had done in years, talking about nothing in particular, just getting to know a new person—even though it was honestly a bit one-sided. Even with Momoi, Megumi had never bothered to directly tell her about her hobbies. Instead, Momoi just figured out what they were from observing what kind of things Megumi did all day. But this person called Kise...

 _What kind of witchcraft is this?_ Megumi didn't like this weird turn of events at all. _It would be best not to associate with him anymore._ Nodding to herself in agreement, she cleared her head of thoughts of the boy with golden eyes and focused all of her attention on the art teacher who was starting to give instructions.

The teacher was a short and stalky fellow called Fujimoto-sensei with a bushy beard who constantly wore a jolly, approachable smile on his face and seemed to be incapable of going through a single sentence without making at least two puns that make absolutely no sense.

Megumi didn't hold any animosity toward him until the moment he announced that everyone will be working with a partner for the first assignment in the art class which was a study on proportions of the human face. From that moment on, the grey-eyed girl disliked the teacher ever so slightly for sentencing her to such torture. She sat quietly in her seat, biting her lip with irritation as other students quickly began discussing who they wanted to be partnered with. Understandably, no one even looked in Megumi's direction.

However, not two seconds after everyone started choosing partners, Fujimoto-sensei clarified with a cheeky smile that he had preassigned who would be working with who, causing most of the students in the room to sag in disappointment.

Fujimoto-sensei seemed like the type who liked all his students to be buddy-buddy, so Megumi was sure he had cleverly thought ahead to make sure everyone would be thrown together with a total stranger. Though she was impressed with that sort of thinking, Megumi could not bring herself forgive Fujimoto for making her situation even worse.

Since he had chosen partners for everyone, it would be harder for Megumi to convince him to let her do the project alone because one other person, the student who was supposed to be Megumi's partner, would also be alone, and not to mention the nature of the assignment is ideal for partner work.

The art teacher had printed a roster of the partner arrangements and when the class ended, the curious students all rushed to read the list. Waiting until the crowd cleared a little, Megumi gazed at the roster dully, bored eyes searching for her name, but her irises instantly lost all of their nonchalance upon seeing the name paired with hers.

Truly, Megumi must have recently become a play-thing for fate or destiny or whatever you want to call it.

 _Group 9:_ _Kise Ryota & Akechi Megumi_


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Murasakibara gets adopted by Megumi.

Megumi, her mouth set in a grimace, tried and failed to subtly poke her head through the slightly ajar doors of the school library. She cringed a little as the door made a squeaking noise that was deafening compared to the silence of the library.

It was seven in the morning, an hour before Megumi would usually arrive at school, and a young librarian raised a curious eyebrow at the odd teal-haired girl who just entered. "May I help you…?"

Before answering, Megumi's eyes darted around the large chamber quickly, searching for the green-haired boy she planned to meet. At first, she didn't find him and her already foul mood from having to wake up earlier than usual became worse and worse by the second. _Don't tell me that bastard didn't show up._ "I'm fine."

The poor librarian flinched back a little from the waves of ominous energy coming from the first year girl. He cleared his throat nervously, "A-are you looking for someone?"

Megumi really didn't want to give off the impression that she had been stood up, so she quickly shook her head, forcing her face to relax back into her usual deadpan expression. Then, thinking that it would look suspicious if she just left without doing anything, she purposefully strode toward a nearby bookshelf as if she had a real, important reason to be there.

The teal haired girl wandered into the western literature aisle and her eyes skimmed over the titles lazily, searching half-heartedly for something she hadn't read yet. Having finished _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ the night before, Megumi felt that she was in need of something else to occupy herself. As her gaze drifted higher and higher, she finally found an author's name she did not recognize, and the tiniest spark of excitement lit her eyes for a split second. Considering the amount of reading Megumi did in elementary school, it was hard to find western books that she wasn't already familiar with.

Megumi stretched her hand up to take the book, but she couldn't even come close to reaching it on the top shelf. "Tch," she quickly whipped her head around in all directions to make sure no one was watching her before she held down her uniform skirt with one hand and jumped for the book with the other.

The book was still impossible to reach.

Eyelids drooping in a deadpan expression, Megumi dully glared at the book as she jumped for it again and again, determined to get it despite not even being able to brush its spine. _Tch, Momoi may be right about getting more sunlight,_ she thought grudgingly, _how is it possible to be this inconveniently short, goddammit!_

Someone cleared their throat to Megumi's right, causing the girl to freeze in the middle of her actions, eyes widened as she slowly turned her head to see who it was that caught her in her embarrassing predicament.

Midorima Shintaro stood at the end of the aisle, school uniform worn perfectly, left fingers taped as usual and in his right hand, he clutched protectively the most ridiculous plastic pink piggy bank. And yet the way he was looking at Megumi made it clear that he was regarding _her_ as the ridiculous one.

The day before, Momoi, the closest thing Megumi had to a social-expert, had told her that people like Midorima probably got along best with people who could fill the silence they left—so in other words, relatively talkative people. Her advice to Megumi—not that Megumi asked for it—was, "start a conversation with him, something that he's interested in. Believe it or not, I think the two of you are quite similar."

At that moment, however, the pink-haired girl's counsel completely slipped from Megumi's mind as she startled at Midorima's sudden appearance at a rather embarrassing time.

"What?" she muttered, hastily turning her head away from him as if she was unconcerned with his presence, which was a complete lie. "Where the hell were you? I've been waiting for a while." That was also a lie.

Midorima closed his eyes with mild annoyance and readjusted his glasses using his taped fingers, "Hmph, I admit I'm surprised you actually showed up, nanodayo."

Megumi made a sour face, "What's that supposed to mean? Where were _you_?"

"In the non-fiction section, for your information," he answered, indicating the far corner of the library behind a few tall and packed shelves where Megumi definitely wouldn't have been able to see given her height. Something about the way he looked at her made Megumi suspect that he was thinking the exact same thing regarding her being vertically challenged but had simply decided not to mention it.

Letting out a moody huff, the girl crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air, pretending as if she wasn't slightly humiliated that he had seen her struggling so much for the book. "Whatever. I'm just here to learn how to watch a basketball game, so can we just get on with it?"

She knew she wasn't really helping her relationship with the tall, bespectacled male, but Megumi never was the type to be buddy-buddy and socially outgoing and from what she has observed of the boy who was now leading the way to one of the tables in the library, one would have to be someone like Momoi or Kise to even come close to having a conversation with him. Thinking of Momoi's advice, Megumi glowered to herself at how difficult it was to initiate casual discussion.

"I hope you're a better teacher than Aomine," she internally winced as her words came out more threateningly than she had intended. Sitting down in a seat across from Midorima, from her bag she pulled out a notebook in case she needed to write something down and looked over at the boy with eyes both bored and expectant at the same time.

"Aomine somehow lacks a sense of form in most things, especially basketball. However, I can assure you that I am a lot more technical and organized in my teaching than him," Midorima set his piggy bank down at the center of the table between them before adjusting his glasses again and beginning. "Do you know how many players are on one team?"

"Five," Megumi recalled the same question from Momoi, and was careful to get it right this time.

Giving a small nod, he continued, "Each player has a position; point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center…"

* * *

Much to both Megumi's relief and slight petulant annoyance, Midorima was a good teacher. A very good teacher in fact, better than she would have liked to admit.

As opposed to her experience with Aomine, Megumi definitely didn't feel like an idiot when Midorima talked to her, and she was quite sure she understood everything the green-haired boy had mentioned. However, the longer Megumi sat absorbing information so easily, the more she realized that she and Midorima were indeed very similar, and that thought alarmed her.

They thought in pretty much the same way, through calculation and logic, and made judgements not based on gut feeling but on evidence and previous occurrences. They both tended to vocalize only what was necessary and expected the other to catch on quickly without much help or clarification. Megumi found herself realizing that she didn't feel as if she was wasting her time every time they exchanged words, since both she and Midorima were direct and sometimes painfully straightforward. He brushed off her sharp comments like it was nothing, and she in turn did the same with his.

"… And that's all I think you have to know for the practice match coming up. Remember, shots made in this area are worth two and outside of it is worth three," Midorima made some marks on the basketball court diagram he had hastily drawn and put the cap on his pen.

Megumi picked up the diagram and glanced at it quickly before folding it up and placing it in a notebook. A clock hanging behind Midorima told her that it was nearly time for homeroom to begin, so she silently and hastily started packing her things, though there was an irritating feeling of guilt nagging at the back of her mind at the thought of just leaving without saying anything.

"Thanks," she muttered, ducking her head so that she could avoid his gaze, a curtain of teal bangs strategically covering part of her face too. Her fingers gripped the strap of her bag on her shoulder harder than necessary.

"There is no need for thanks, nanodayo" the other answered matter-of-factly, adjusting his glasses one last time. "As Aomine mentioned yesterday, it would be embarrassing to have a manager who doesn't know what's going on during a game."

Megumi stiffened, a sour look crossing her face at his comment. "Right…" she drawled, eyes dull as those of a dead fish as she watched him gather his things rather slowly. After a moment of just standing there, she suddenly wondered why she was even waiting for him. They were going to the same class and all, but still Megumi shouldn't really have any obligation to wait on him, so she quickly turned on her heels, hoping Midorima didn't notice what she did for a moment, and headed for the exit.

Since they were going to meet again very soon, in probably a matter of minutes in homeroom, neither of them bothered saying goodbye.

* * *

"Oi, Akechi," Aomine called, waving a sheet of paper at her as she walked into their classroom. When Megumi approached his desk, he put the paper in her hands, "That's the schedule for practice matches up until the National Tournament in June. First one is next Monday, so try to be there."

Looking down the long list of schools that have been arranged for practice games, Megumi stifled a groan and grudgingly accepted the paper, "What a pain in the ass." She didn't feel Aomine's gaze linger on her back as she trudged over to her own desk and sat down, looking up at the chalkboard blankly.

"Is it too much to ask why your dislike basketball so much?" the blue-haired boy asked with a sigh, absentmindedly trying to balance a pencil across his nose.

"Is it such a crime to like some things and dislike others?" Megumi deadpanned.

"No, but for you it's like basketball somehow offended you and your entire family or something."

Megumi sat quietly for a moment, her eyes no longer blankly staring at the front of the room but alert and narrowed ever so slightly, "Maybe it did; maybe it didn't. That's none of your business. And for your information, it is not just basketball. All sports piss me off really."

"I get it, it really isn't my business," Aomine replied, giving up on the pencil, but he clearly wasn't finished yet. "But everyone else in the club loves basketball, and it's probably better I tell you this rather than for the coach or the captain to, since both of them can be pretty freaking scary; no one is going to appreciate you bringing such a negative attitude into the club. I'm sure for everybody, things are a lot easier when you enjoy it, so at least _try_ to tolerate basketball if you're planning on staying."

Megumi's eyes resembled ice shards as she glared at him out of the corner of her eyes. Though she heard sense in what he was telling her and knew that he meant no hostility, the teal-headed girl's pride rose to the surface before she could restrain it. "Oh, don't worry, I'll be out of here as quickly as I can around the end of the first term," she shot back with a voice that was quiet but cold and dry. "If I could, I would have transferred out on the first day."

"Oi," the boy's eyes were now fully focused on her and his brow knitted together in a mildly worried expression. "You don't have to get so defensive. I wasn't trying to chase you away from the club or anything. Just giving some advice before you run into trouble."

Staying silent, Megumi lowered her head and turned away from him, clearly attempting to flee from the conversation.

Aomine was quite sure she was still listening though, so he continued while looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully, "All I know is that these few months are going to be a real pain for you if you keep hating basketball so much. Why not give it a chance and try to enjoy the sport?" He glanced over in Megumi's direction again, wearing a small smile, "You might find that you like being our manager after all."

"We will see," she muttered doubtfully, but did not fully deny the possibility. Her hands were wringing in her lap, and Aomine noticed that it seemed to be an uncomfortable habit. After keeping her head down and not meeting his eyes for a short while, Megumi finally peeked at him quickly before informing, "Midorima taught me basketball rules. I'll be fine for now, so you can tell Momoi to stop worrying."

Before Aomine could respond, the classroom door opened, and said bespectacled boy walked in shortly followed by their teacher who, by slamming the door loudly behind her, effectively gained the attention of all the students clustered in the room. As students quieted down and got in their assigned seats, Midorima made his way to his desk without much of a greeting to either Aomine or Megumi.

"Turn to page sixty-one," Royama-sensei ordered, starting to write on the chalkboard at the front of the room, and with that Megumi and Aomine's discussion was dropped.

* * *

The corridors of the school were packed with students at the start of the lunch period, and Megumi grimaced as she squeezed through them, trying her hardest to avoid touching anyone. She wasn't able to get a chance to speak with Kise Ryota after she found out they had been paired for the art project, but Megumi wanted to make it clear to him that she _refused_ to do the project last minute. Thus is the reason why the teal-haired girl was reluctantly venturing into the crowded perilous halls of Teiko Middle School to search for the blonde boy.

Megumi gritted her teeth as one student shoved another playfully, and the student that was pushed rammed into her, nearly knocking her down if someone hadn't been behind her and caught her right in time.

"Sorry, sorry," the one who had rammed into her smiled apologetically, but his face quickly fell as Megumi glared at him, her eyes like icy stone knives.

But before Megumi could properly give the poor boy her cold shoulder treatment, a familiar voice drawled from behind her, instantly catching her attention. "Eeeeh~ It's Gumi-chin."

For the first time, Megumi noticed the massive shadow cast over her, and craned her head backwards and up to find the purple haired giant, Murasakibara, standing behind her, looking down at her with sleepy eyes.

The student who was shoved into Megumi went pale as a ghost as he looked up at the monstrously tall first year boy and, thinking Murasakibara was a friend of Megumi's, quickly backed away from the intimidating pair, sweating nervously as he fled with his friends.

"Murasakibara," Megumi said as a greeting, wiping non-existent dust from her uniform.

The purple-haired boy looked down at her curiously, "I thought it was just because you were sitting down yesterday but even standing up, Gumi-chin is really small…"

A tick mark formed on the side of Megumi's forehead, and she dared him to repeat his comment, "Excuse me?"

"Do you have any shrimp for me today?"

"No."

Murasakibara's face fell, and he appeared so much like a disappointed child that Megumi looked away and puffed her cheeks before amending.

"I have some rice balls though."

Life returned to the purple-haired boy's eyes as quickly as it had left, and Megumi mentally rolled her eyes but decided not to comment.

She wanted to tell herself that Murasakibara was acting so kid-like on purpose to annoy her, but it was hard for her even to convince herself of that when the tall boy truly looked so genuine. Either way, Megumi shouldn't be dealing with him right now; her goal was to find Kise, so she'd better do that before the lunch period was over. An idea forming in her mind, she tilted her head way back in order to look Murasakibara in the eyes, "Do me a favor, and I'll give you the rice balls, all right?"

Murasakibara nodded attentively, already licking his lips and thinking about the food the girl was going to give him.

"Do you see a blonde, male first year from up there?"

At first, the purple haired boy blinked blankly, making a little sound of confusion, but he eventually understood and turned his head this way and that, eyes scanning over the heads of the other students he towered over, searching for a rare head of blonde.

Megumi waited patiently for him to scout out the corridor and was relieved when Murasakibara seemed to catch sight of someone who matched the description. "You found him? Where is he?"

"At other side of the hallway," Murasakibara observed in a bored manner, "with a lot of people around him."

 _Fuck my life_. Megumi sighed loudly but steeled herself for the nightmare that is going to be pushing her way through the crowd that separated her and Kise's locations. "Okay, thanks," she said to Murasakibara. "I'll give you the rice balls after I'm done talking to the blonde guy, so wait in the cafeteria."

Brows furrowing and a petulant pout forming on his lips, Murasakibara said, "Gumi-chin is so small and unaggressive. It'll take her so long to get to the other side of the hallway that lunch will be over by then."

Gray eyes narrowed, and Megumi crossed her arms over her chest, tilting her head to one side in mock curiosity. "Then what do you suggest? So distrustful of me that you want to escort me there and back to make sure I keep my word?"

Murasakibara either didn't catch on to her sarcasm or he didn't care. He lazily looked again in Kise's direction before turning to Megumi and nonchalantly grabbing her hand ("What the fucking hell, bastard? Don't touch me!"), placing it on the back of his Teiko blazer.

With a small fistful of white fabric in her hand, Megumi glowered at the purple haired boy who was largely unaffected by her smoldering dark gaze.

"If Gumi-chin sticks behind me, she'll get through the crowd more easily," was his explanation that made Megumi open her mouth to protest but then quickly shut it again because it wasn't a bad idea.

"This is embarrassing," she muttered sourly under her breath, but kept a firm hold on Murasakibara's back so as to not lose him.

As expected, with his height and presence, Murasakibara sliced through the crowded corridor easily. The other students parted like the Red Sea to let the tall boy pass and, by extension, Megumi, who stuck to Murasakibara's back, too.

Kise Ryota was cheerfully entertaining a crowd of girls with his dashing charisma, and Megumi thought she might puke when the girls all squealed as he talked about his recent success in the baseball club even though he'd never played before attending middle school.

Thankfully, the girls jumped aside upon seeing Murasakibara looming over them, and Megumi stepped through the split in the mob in order to get to the blonde male.

"Hey there, Akechi-chan~" Kise waved at her, wearing a happy-go-lucky smile as if he thought Megumi had come to join his fan club and was welcoming her. "Would you like to hear about my baseball practice too?"

Megumi wore a deadpan glare. "No, keep it to yourself. Our art project is due next week, so we need to start working on it."

At this point, several girls were giving Megumi dirty looks for interruption their time with Kise just to talk about some boring art project.

"Aah," Kise laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck, "maybe some other time, Akechi-chan? I'm kind of in the middle of something right now." He flashed another dazzling smile all around at the gathered female students, effectively drawing their attention away from Megumi.

The gray-eyed girl's temporal pulse point bulged, and she muttered under her breath, "Just what is so important about _this_?"

"I'm free next Monday," Kise was saying to her, only really half paying attention to who he was talking to, "so we can work on the project then, yeah?"

" _No_ ," Megumi's tone of voice was so cutting that it some girls around her took a step away, and Kise's attention became solely focused on her, unlike before. "That's the day before it's due. Like hell I'm going to end up doing this project last minute. Just let me draw you, dammit."She didn't mention that she also had to attend a basketball practice match on that day too.

"Now, now, Akechi-chan…" Kise said with a hint of discomfort, hoping to calm her down, "I'm going to be busy all this week with photoshoots after school and on the weekends, so maybe I can just give you a picture of me, and you can draw from that?"

At the mention of Megumi getting to have a picture of him, the mob of females erupted with demands for Kise to give _them_ pictures too.

Megumi returned a glare that was thrown at her from one of Kise's fans, "Fuck off, it's for a project." Directing her attention back to Kise, she sighed a little in defeat, really wanting to get out of here; the amount of people around her was really draining her energy. "Fine, give me the picture _before_ the weekend. And don't forget that you have to draw me too." She turned around looking as if she was leaving and ending the discussion, but abruptly glanced over her shoulder a second later, and Kise felt an unpleasant chill go up his spine as she muttered a barely audible threat, "Drag my grade down, and see what happens."

A moment of uncomfortable silence passed after Megumi left followed by Murasakibara before Kise's fans slowly resumed their conversations, trying to pretend as if the teal-haired girl hadn't come over in the first place.

* * *

"Who knew Gumi-chin could actually be so scary," Murasakibara observed with a lazy expression, trailing a little behind Megumi and hoping that she was going to give him the rice balls now.

Megumi just snorted half-heartedly but didn't deny it. "Those girls were really agitating; that was all."

"Mm," the purple-haired giant hummed in agreement, furrowing his eyebrows a little upon recalling their obnoxiously high-pitched squealing. "Can I have rice balls now, Gumi-chin?"

"I know. I'm getting them right now, aren't I?" she walked into her homeroom where several students were hanging out, and paced to her seat in order to dig her bento out of her bag.

To Megumi's pleasant surprise, lying on her desk was the book that had caught her eye that morning in the library but was placed too high up on the shelf for her to reach, _The Hobbit_. For a moment, her face relaxed as she looked down at the book, wide eyed, before she picked it up, flipped to the first page, and read the first few lines, eyes darting back and forth on the paper with subtle excitement. She glanced around the room, wondering who put the book there, when her gaze landed on Midorima in the seat behind her.

The bespectacled boy didn't look up at her and appeared to be suspiciously interested in the completed math worksheet flattened on his desk.

Megumi stared at him for a long time until she was sure that he wasn't going to return her gaze and then quietly tucked the book into her schoolbag, not knowing what to say or if she should say anything at all to Midorima. Quickly, however, she snapped out of her musings and realized that Murasakibara was waiting.

"Gumi-chin?" the purple-haired first year called from the doorway, unsure if he should stay out in the corridor or not.

"Come on, Murasakibara," she said, waving him over a little. "I have the rice balls right here."


	7. Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megumi becomes Akashi's shogi buddy.

The shiny, professionally taken photo of Kise Ryota smiled up at Megumi as she gazed at it with dull, unimpressed eyes. At least the angle was decent enough for her to be able to do the proportions study for it.

Setting the small six by five sized picture on her desk, Megumi pulled out her sketchbook from her backpack and started drawing out the general figure of Kise's face, which was an attractive heart shape.

_Damn you, good genes…_ Megumi thought vaguely as she became engrossed in her drawing.

Morning light streamed in from the window next to her desk and the faint buzzing of students in the school courtyard floated to her ears but was not enough to bother her.

It was early in the morning, but Megumi had decided to come to school anyway. One could say that today was one of those days in which the gray eyed girl was slightly harder to annoy than usual, and she didn't even grumble to herself too much on her walk to school which really said something. Her relatively good mood that she had woken up in was supplemented when she arrived at Teiko to find that Kise had kept his word and slipped a photo of himself into her locker. And now, Megumi sat in the quiet classroom doing one of her favorite activities-drawing-in peace, which was enough to make her hum very softly to herself once in a while as she measured the proportions of Kise's face with her pencil.

And so, when Momoi pranced into Megumi's empty homeroom, the pink haired girl actually froze mid skip when she saw her friend looking so uncharacteristically cheerful. "… Megu-chan…?"

Megumi's eyes flitted to the side for a split second to glance at Momoi before returning to her project, "Momoi…?" she drawled out in the same tone Momoi had used for her name.

"Did something happen?"

Megumi's frowned a little but did not look up from her drawing, "No…? Why?"

"I mean... you look…"

"I look…?"

Momoi sighed, appearing to have given up on trying to find the correct word and simply settled on a pretty straightforward answer, "You just look kind of happier than usual."

"Do I?" Megumi gave a little shrug and continued to draw.

Wondering if what Megumi was drawing had anything to do with her good disposition, Momoi stepped closer and craned her neck to see the sketchbook. Her bright eyes widened at the attractive male that Megumi was recreating on the paper. "Who's this, Megu-chan?" she asked excitedly. Could Megumi have made a friend on her own?

The teal haired girl was quiet for a moment, thinking about how she should label her relationship with the blonde boy ( _An acquaintance? No, he's not even at_ that _point yet…_ ), but her moment of hesitance was interpreted completely differently by the hopeful Momoi.

"Megu-chan, is this the boy you like? You sure look happy drawing him."

" _Hah_?" Megumi's hand slipped, and she accidentally drew an unattractively mark across the paper, giving Kise a massive scar down the side of his face from the corner of his left eye down to his chin, but she hardly paid any attention to the fact she just ruined her drawing; a dark mark like that would be difficult to erase. Gray eyes narrowed at Momoi and knuckles white around her pencil, Megumi mumbled with a hint of annoyance but also slight defeat as if she really wasn't surprised anymore that Momoi was suddenly blurting out embarrassing stuff, "No, we hardly know each other."

Momoi felt a twinge of disappointment but didn't insist her assumption, "Oh… Well, who is he?"

"…He's from my art class. And we have to do a project together."

"I see," the pink haired girl studied the picture that Megumi was using as reference, "He looks kind of familiar, but I can't think of where I've seen him."

Megumi tore out her ruined drawing, crumpled it up, and immediately started again on a clean page. "I wouldn't associate with him if I were you," she informed briskly. "He's one of those people who's popular and charismatic but also astoundingly annoying and two-faced," she added quickly, remembering how he'd treated her when she'd interrupted his time with his fans.

"And you said you hardly knew him," Momoi laughed teasingly, her giggles seeming to fill the empty room with life. "And don't worry, I wasn't thinking about associating with him anyway. I don't think he's really my type…" she said thoughtfully, looking at Kise's picture one more time.

Thinking that someone with Momoi's personality would surely be attracted to a person like Kise, Megumi let out a dry snort to hide her genuine surprise, "What is your type then?"

"Hmm… maybe someone with a blue-ish color scheme, you know? Blue eyes are really nice, I think, and it'll be a bonus if they like basketball too and are really considerate…" Momoi sat with her chin cradled in her hands, gazing off into space contemplatively.

Megumi regarded her with a deadpan expression, "So, Aomine?"

Momoi frowned a little, as if concentrating in her thinking, "No-I mean yes, I guess Dai-chan fits, but it's just that feeling when you've been friends with someone for so long that you don't ever think about your relationship being any different, do you know what I mean?"

"No," was Megumi's blunt and truthful answer, having never really kept a person in "friend" status for more than a couple of months. Her drawing hand danced different shapes on the paper.

"Oh, well it's pretty hard to explain," Momoi laughed awkwardly, scratching her cheek with her index finger. "Anyways, that portrait is coming along really well, Megu-chan!"

Sensing that Momoi had forced the subject change, Megumi didn't bother trying to resist and looked down at her nearly finished drawing of Kise Ryota, starting to add in measurements of proportions. Color wasn't required for the project, but Megumi found her fingers itching to use some anyway, because black and white and varying shade of gray didn't fit Kise at all.

He was all exaggerated colors and unbelievably radiant highlights. Though his hair was blonde, the word "blonde" seemed too dull and didn't quite capture the essence of the color.

_Portrait: The Boy Whose Hair Was the Color of Perfectly Ripe Lemons_. Megumi noted in her head what she would name any further pieces of art base on Kise. Closing the sketchbook, she glanced at the clock at the front of the room and then looked at Momoi, "Speaking of which, where is Aomine?" She wasn't used to seeing him and Momoi apart.

"He's at morning practice. Don't worry, managers like us don't have to go to those, at least not regularly."

_Thank God_. Megumi didn't reply verbally and just nodded.

The buzzing of students arriving at school had slowly grown louder throughout their discussion, and Momoi glanced at her watch before getting up from where she had been sitting in Aomine's seat. "I'd better go. I'll see you at lunch in the cafeteria, Megu-chan?" she chirped, flashing a cheerful beam at her over her shoulder and then leaving the classroom.

* * *

Megumi wasn't sure what to do with the photo of Kise after she was finished with it. She could try to find him during lunch or she'll have to wait until their art class together today to return it, but she most definitely didn't want other people to see her with it and think that she's one of his fans. By the time the lunch period arrived, however, it quickly became apparent that Megumi should have disposed of the photo while she had the chance.

Before meeting Momoi and probably the rest of the first year-first string basketball enthusiasts in the lunch hall, Megumi shouldered her bag which contained her bento as well as _The Hobbit_ and tucked Kise's picture into one of her small skirt pockets in case she ran into him in the corridors. It was best he took the photo out of her hands as soon as possible.

Hopefully, in art class today-the only class they shared-he would be able to draw her and then they won't have to worry about the project any more over the weekend. Megumi had her doubts, but Kise must at least be a decent artist too if he enrolled in the same advanced drawing class as she did. He should be able to draw her within a single class period, even if it's a little messy, Megumi reckoned.

The teal-haired girl had taken two steps out of her classroom when she noticed a familiar group of girls watching her in the hallway. Megumi recognized them as a few of the fans who had been present for her confrontation with Kise the day before.

The halls were crowded as usual, and Megumi stared back at the girls dully before turning away and looking as if she was going to continue on her way, but Kise's fans suddenly appeared panicked as Megumi started disappearing into the crowd. Several girls pushed each other before one was quickly nominated to call after Megumi as their spokesperson.

Megumi's lips twitched into a grimace and she let out a soft "tch," reluctantly stopping in her tracks to give them her attention. "What?"

"You're the one who got an exclusive picture of Kise-kun, right?"

"I wouldn't call it 'exclusive.' It's nothing special," the gray eyed girl replied in a barely contained, snappish tone, her mood instantly plummeting a little about the fact that she was being interrupted for something as trivial as this.

A few of the fangirls murmured excitedly amongst each other as their spokesperson continued, her gaze turning almost threatening, "Listen, give us the photo, all right?"

Megumi quirked an eyebrow in mock interest, "No."

For one, even Megumi had enough social common sense not to just hand over a person's photo to anyone without permission. While these girls were Kise's fans who saw him every day and could easily ask him for a photo themselves, there's definitely a reason they didn't have one, and Megumi deduced that Kise, like any other normal person, wouldn't want something of his just given away. Secondly, Megumi didn't feel like doing favors for people she found exceedingly annoying.

"Eeh, what did you say?" the fangirl gasped as if she seriously didn't expect Megumi to refuse.

"Are you deaf? _No_ , and leave; I have somewhere to go," the teal-haired girl thought about how Momoi was probably excitedly waiting for her to arrive so they can eat together and have their usual one-sided, but comfortable, conversations.

"Hey, why not?" one of Kise's fan's whined, and Megumi swore she lost a couple of brain cell just listening to her obnoxious voice.

"Because," she growled, wondering if it was possible for people to exist who were so ignorant and shallow, "the photo doesn't belong to me, so it is not mine to give away. Judging by the fact that all of you are desperate for it, I'd assume that Kise doesn't give you his photos very often. If he won't do it himself, he definitely wouldn't want me to do it either." Reaching into her pocket to pull out the picture, Megumi glared at the girls that were gathered around her, "It's nothing interesting anyway, literally just an ordinary phot-"

What the short girl did not expect was for the fans to suddenly lunge forward as soon as the photo came in sight, their grabby fingers stretching to snatch it up.

_You're kidding me, what the fuck?_ Megumi barely retracted the picture back in time so that it didn't end up getting ripped up by the hungry hands. Then she ran, taking off down the corridor to her right which seemed to be the most empty.

A few of the truly desperate-and to be quite frank, downright angry-fangirl actually chased after Megumi, and she cursed under her breath, knowing that she won't last very long and nor will she be fast enough to outrun her pursuers. She turned a corner and tried the first door on her right which was unlocked and quickly slid inside, closing the door behind her as quietly as she could.

Hearing the fangirls on the other side of the door seconds later, Megumi held onto the knob firmly, preventing anyone on the outside from opening the door.

"It's locked," someone said when they couldn't get the knob to turn. Within a minute, the sounds in the hallway faded as the fans went elsewhere in their search for Megumi.

Megumi let out a breath and rolled her eyes, turning around for the first time to face the room she had entered, and she jumped with a start when she saw Akashi Seijuro sitting quietly at a table near the large, one and only, window of the somewhat small chamber, regarding her with a sparkle of amusement in his gaze. She first awkwardly stared at him in surprise before finally making an attempt to act casual, trying to draw attention away from what just happened, "Don't mind me, I was just… running from the Gorgons."

The crimson-haired boy cracked a smile and, to Megumi's mild astonishment, seemed to understand her reference, "If I may ask, whatever did you do to upset them?"

Kise's picture was still in her pocket, having managed to get out of the ordeal undamaged, and Megumi almost felt sorry for Kise for being surrounded by such dim-witted fans constantly, but at least he could appreciate that Megumi put effort into protecting his privacy, she hoped. The small girl's lip twitched subtly as she answered, "Robbed them of another victim?"

"How very heroic of you," he said, the amusement in his eyes becoming more prominent but for an unknown reason, Megumi didn't feel a hint of offence that she was the object of someone else's entertainment. Something about the way Akashi acted didn't make her feel inferior to him at all, even in a situation like this.

Megumi gazed around the room; it appeared to be a clubroom judging by its size and the lockers that lined both sides as well as a few storage boxes tucked away in a far corner. A wooden shogi board with its pieces placed in starting position lay on the table Akashi sat at. Across from him was an empty seat, appearing to be meant for a nonexistent opponent.

A part of her was intrigued that Akashi was spending his time here in a little room by himself instead of joining his teammates in the lunch hall like before. He seemed like the sociable type who had the ability to get along with anyone (for the love of God, he _instantly_ and easily made conversation with Megumi of all people and even managed to keep her from losing interest after two or three words which was usually the cap), but not exactly in the same style as Kise. He had a quieter confidence, and Megumi immediately decided that charismatic people weren't so bad if they were like Akashi.

"What are you doing here instead of eating with the others? I'd thought you got along with Murasakibara and Midorima and them."

He shifted his gaze back to the shogi board, "That's true, however, I do enjoy spending time in a quieter, more peaceful setting occasionally. Even so, though sometimes disorderly they can be, I find my teammates quite a delightful group of people. I hope we'll be able to have fun playing basketball together."

_"_ _Delightful" is too strong of a word_ , Megumi thought, a sweat drop appearing on her temple. The girl wasn't sure if it was merely a conjuration of her imagination, but suddenly she felt as though Akashi's responses had gotten a little stiffer, less spontaneous than before and more controlled now. Had she asked the wrong question?

It was hard to tell, and Akashi was doing a very good job of continuing to sound approachable and polite despite his deliberateness. "Do you play shogi, Akechi?"

Megumi looked at the board with slight skepticism but slowly moved forward to sit in the seat across from Akashi, dropping her bag next to the table.

The boy smiled as she sat down, and allowed her to make the first move. Bright daylight from the window fell directly on his eyes which Megumi could now clearly see from this angle, and his eyes were a color that she could not describe with a single name, a color, similar to Kise's hair, that Megumi would not be able to find in an ordinary colored pencil box or set of paint.

"Is this what you do in your free time? Play shogi against yourself?" It came out more as a statement than a question, and Megumi wasn't so much genuinely wondering as she was making a dry joke. She pushed a rook piece two spaces toward her king and thought of an appropriate name for Akashi, whom, she realized, she'd really like to draw or paint. _Portrait: The Boy Whose Eyes Resembled the Color of the Horizon Line on the Edge of Sunrise._

Keeping a straight face as he moved the pawn piece in front of his bishop, Akashi responded, "Of course, it is more entertaining playing against a real opponent, but the problem is that it's become quite a challenge finding someone who can give me a good match."

Megumi's brow twitched as she stared at him dully, unimpressed. Despite the fact that those words would have sounded arrogant coming out of anyone else's mouth, Akashi just sounded like he was telling the truth, and Megumi suddenly felt some initiative to try hard as if she had something to prove playing against an opponent who apparently was so good he had to play by himself. By no means was she a beginner at shogi, so she had her confidence too. Moving a gold general up one space, she said with carefully calculated nonchalance, "I'm sure you'll come across someone who can beat you soon."

A subtly wistful smile appeared on Akashi's face that Megumi would have missed if she had blinked, "It is not likely."

The little click of the king he moved resonated loudly in the still and silent room.

After studying the board for a moment, Megumi moved her own king up to a more defensible position.

Without much hesitation, Akashi moved another pawn.

Megumi moved a silver general closer to her king.

Akashi's knight moved.

A pawn.

The king.

Another pawn.

A bishop.

A knight.

"You have set up a wonderful defense, Akechi. This is promising."

"…Thank you."

* * *

Despite Akashi's compliments on her defense, Megumi lost the first game within twenty minutes. She demanded a rematch as politely as she could, trying to cover up her mild frustration, and lost the second game too, this time in less than fifteen minutes. The teal-haired girl was about to request a third match when Akashi's phone rang, forcing him to step away from the table for a moment.

"Akechi?" he called to her after listening to the person on the other side of the line talk, "Momoi is looking for you."

A soft bang was heard as Megumi dropped her forehead on the shogi board, letting out a groan which she herself couldn't even decide was of disappointment from not being about to play another game or from irritation at herself upon realizing that she had left Momoi hanging when they had agreed to meet for lunch. A frown still etched on her face, Megumi stood up from her seat and picked up her bag in a moody manner, "I'm going now."

Akashi, after seeing Megumi's reaction, spoke into the phone again, telling Momoi that they'll be on their way to the cafeteria. "Shall we continue another day?" he turned to the gray-eyed girl with a gentle smile once he hung up, and Megumi struggled to continue holding her grudge against him for beating her so badly in shogi.

"Tch," she narrowed her eyes at anything besides Akashi but nodded.

They left the clubroom together, leaving the shogi board and pieces in their starting positions. Megumi hesitated a moment as they walked toward the hall, opening her mouth and then closing it. Her eyes landed on Akashi with slight suspicion, "How did you get Momoi's number?"

"As the manager of the first string, she felt it appropriate to be in contact with all of the team's members."

"Oh."

"Have you exchanged contact information with her as well?"

"I don't have my own phone," Megumi deadpanned, shutting down the conversation pretty quickly.

"In that case, perhaps an e-mail address?" Without even so much as a blink of his eyes, Akashi shut down Megumi's attempt at a shut down.

"U-ugh," the teal haired girl quickly gave up, "I have an old computer, so I can set one up."

A soft, amused smile appeared on Akashi's face as if he too sensed what just happened and appeared satisfied with himself for so effectively reviving the dialogue. "When you do, please tell me. I would like to discuss shogi strategies some time and perhaps play a few online games against you."

"You want to talk strategy with someone who just lost to you twice in a row?" Megumi asked in monotone, sounding more like she was making a statement than asking a question.

If the expression Akashi gave was supposed to be comforting, it wasn't very effective in that it didn't really ease Megumi's vexation at all over the matches she lost. "Although you lost, you at least gave me a bit of a challenge," he said, closing his eyes as they stepped through the wide doorway of the cafeteria. "I'd like to hold on to as many people as I can who have the potential to give me a good match. Everyone I already know either doesn't have the skill or they've lost the will to play against me, unfortunately. I hope you'll be able to stay with me for a while, Akechi."

Megumi felt a subtle sadness in his words, so she restrained herself from rolling her eyes as she normally would after hearing one of Akashi's miniature monologues. She thought about reassuring him that she wasn't going anywhere until she beat him, but before she could decide whether or not to say it aloud, a flash of pink appeared in her vision and nearly knocked her down.

"Megu-chan!" Momoi greeted cheerfully, and even with a hint of relief as she easily pulled Megumi into a tight hug. "Thanks for looking after her, Akashi-kun! I know she can be a bit of a handful."

" _What_?" Megumi wiggled in her hold.

"It was no trouble at all," Akashi replied, both him and Momoi ignoring Megumi's thrashing. "We had a good shogi match together, and she was pleasant company."

Momoi practically glowed with pride while Megumi gave a surprised squeak at the compliment that she never thought she would receive in her entire life.

"I will see you in History, Momoi," the crimson haired boy said as he turned around to leave, giving them a little wave. "Good-bye, Akechi."

_Eh?_ Megumi's eyes widened as she watched his retreating form. _If he wasn't planning on staying, then why did he…?_ As Momoi steered her by the shoulders to the table where Aomine and Murasakibara sat, the gray eyed girl noticed in her peripheral vision the same small group of Kise's fans as before standing in the corridor just outside of the cafeteria, watching her.

_Would they have harassed me if Akashi hadn't been walking with me?_

As the short boy passed them, the girls quickly jumped out of the way, apologizing.

"Megu-chan, I'm so glad you made friends with Akashi-kun," Momoi said, pushing Megumi into a seat next to Aomine. "He's wanted to find a shogi partner since school started, so I think he's happy you're willing to play with him."

"Acquaintance," Megumi corrected quietly, albeit a little late.

"Hello, Gumi-chin."

"Hello, Murasakibara."

"Yo, Akechi."

"Hello, Aomine."

* * *

Kise was absent from art class, and Megumi nearly snapped a pencil when Fujimoto-sensei actually gave a portion of in-class time for working on the project; time completely wasted for Megumi her inconveniently absent partner. She read for the entire class period.

* * *

Out of the corners of her eyes, Megumi disinterestedly watched Aomine charge full speed at Murasakibara, easily dribbling a basketball around as he ran. The purple haired giant stood lazily under the basket, barely even lifting his arms up to block until the last second. Aomine switched form at the last minute, throwing the ball around the half-hearted block and into the net.

" _Move it_ , Murasakibara!" Nijimura hollered like a drill sergeant, startling the shit out of the teal haired girl who stood in front of him and was only innocently counting towels on the bench.

Murasakibara turned his head in a direction so the captain couldn't see him making a face, but reluctantly crouched lower and spread his arms out slightly to appear more alert. Narrowing his eyes as Aomine came at him again with the ball, the tallest middle school first year (probably in the entire country of Japan) jumped to block the shot, this time his arms towering up like a massive shield for the net he guarded.

"Good," Captain Drill Sergeant smiled, crossing his arms while as he kept watching. Then his eyes drifted to the other side of the court where Akashi passed the ball to Midorima and instantly, the green haired boy went for the shot, disregarding passing the ball to teammates closer to the basket. " _Midorima_ , don't just shoot as soon as you get the ball!"

Megumi winced, her ears ringing. Nijimura stood right behind her, and the poor girl had to endure the majority of the force behind her senpai's shouting while everyone else, out far away on the court, were spared of the torture. "My ears are going to fucking fall off," she muttered under her breath as she finished counting the towels, noting that they were three towels short.

Nijimura's piercing eyes immediately darted to her.

_Shit, there's no way he heard that, not over all of his shouting!_ Trying to act as nondescript as possible, Megumi kept her eyes down on the bench, pretending to still be counting. When Nijimura clearly wasn't fooled by her blameless façade, she bit out a little too sarcastically, "May I help you, Nijimura-san?"

Thankfully, it didn't seem like the captain heard _exactly_ what Megumi's unflattering comment was, so he only regarded her with a suspecting expression before letting it go, at least for now. "Do we have enough towels, Akechi?"

"Missing three."

"Go ask the third string manager for more. That's where we keep the extras."

Megumi silently stood up and left the first gym without another word, but she could feel his gaze glued onto her back until she stepped out into the afternoon sun and headed to the next athletics building over that was labeled as the third gym. Because Momoi was speaking to Shirogane about one thing or another, Megumi was the only real manager handling the practice at the moment.

The third gym had an atmosphere that felt puny compared to the intensity of the first one. Everyone moved a little slower, reacted more "averagely," and lacked the impressive presence that most of the first string players carried. Some of the athletes paused and glanced over in her direction when Megumi arrived, something that none of the first string athletes, who had such ridiculously stubborn focus while practicing, would have done.

The manager of the third string was a taller, dark haired, first year girl to whom Megumi had never spoken before. She looked at the gray-eyed girl curiously as she was approached, but then she quickly appeared a little timorous as Megumi got closer.

The teal haired girl could imagine why; Megumi suffered from that unfortunate condition in which her neutral expression made her look pissed all the time. "I'm from the first string team," she said in monotone, trying to soften her face just a bit for the poor girl's sake. "We need more towels."

"Oh!" the third string manager perked up, laughing nervously as if she was embarrassed that Megumi had caught her timidness. "U-uh, right, I have some here." Smiling sheepishly, she picked a stack-way too many-from the bench next to her and held them out for Megumi. "By the way, I'm Yori."

"Hmm," Megumi hummed as interestedly as she could manage, taking the towels in her arms. "I'm Akechi."

"Uhm, so are you friends with Momoi?"

Megumi wasn't sure where Yori was trying to go, starting a conversation like this, but she played along, in a manner that was more calculating than friendly, "Yes, why?"

A whistle was blown in the background, signaling a break.

Yori's face went pink quickly, and she stuttered at first, waving her hands around, "Well, I-I was just wondering if you knew whether or not she and Aomine-kun are…"

Her deadpan expression not changing, Megumi acted as unconcerned as possible, half to make Yori feel less judged for talking about this to her and half to show that she herself had no interest in the topic much. "If you're asking me whether or not Momoi is Aomine's girlfriend, I'm sure the answer is no."

Sparkles of hope glimmered in Yori's eyes at this, "Do you think Aomine-kun has a girlfriend, though?"

"How would _I_ know?" Megumi snapped, letting out a breath to blow a stray strand of hair out of her face. Rapidly realizing that this girl, Yori, was obviously very attracted to Aomine and was using Megumi as an info gatherer, the gray eyed girl immediately lost all incentive she had left for the discussion. "Look, I need to go back or Captain Rainbow is going to yell my poor eardrums out."

The athletes started crowding around the bench for their break, picking up towels and water bottles as their coach stood by, intently looking down at a clipboard.

"Oh, yes, I understand," the third string manager bowed stiffly, clearly embarrassed, "I'm sorry for bombarding you with all these questions."

Although she thought about responding with a half-hearted "it's all right," Megumi didn't get a chance to when she felt a soft tap on her shoulder, making her jump slightly. She twisted her head around to see who had snuck up on her, only to let out a mixture between a suppressed shriek and a gasp when she saw a pale, light blue haired boy standing directly behind her.

"Excuse me; may I have a towel, please?"

Still shocked at how close he had gotten to her without her noticing, Megumi stared at the boy with a gaze of dismay, not realizing that he was talking to her and that she was holding the only stack of towels left.

When Megumi didn't move, Yori quickly apologized to the boy before pulling one off the top of Megumi's stack and handing it to him.

"Thank you very much." Then the boy turned and was gone.

"Who was _that_?" Megumi hissed at a startled Yori.

"Mm, I can't remember his name…" the third string manager admitted, scratching her head as she tried to think. "It may be Kuro or Kokoro."

Suddenly very unnerved by the strange boy, Megumi hastily asked, "Did _you_ see him coming up behind me?"

"Well, I didn't really notice either-"

"What the hell?" Shaking her head, the shorter girl readjusted the towels in her hands, feeling creepy chills go up her spine the more she thought about how totally undetectable the boy was. "I'm leaving now." Without waiting for a reply, Megumi walked as fast as she could without seeming dubious back to the first gym.

First string was on break too when she got back and Nijimura and Coach Sanada appeared to be talking to the resting players. Megumi put the towels down where the athletes could reach them and sank down against a wall next to Momoi who had also returned.

"It's important that all of you build up a bond before nationals, especially first years who only recently met each other and the rest of the team," Sanada lectured to his players before his eyes drifted toward Aomine, Akashi, Murasakibara, and Midorima, lingering on them momentarily. "I encourage you to spend time together outside of practice and if possible, outside of school as well."

The players shouted their agreement in unison before the coach clapped loudly, signally practice to resume.

"Spending time outside of school…" Momoi mused out loud, drawing Megumi's attention. "That might be a bit hard, I think. Asides from basketball, all of the first years have pretty diverse tastes, don't you think, quite a variety?"

Megumi looked off into an imaginary thought bubble, picturing Akashi calmly playing shogi while next to him, Murasakibara hugged a bag of snacks, looking down at the game cluelessly as Aomine slept nearby with a basketball magazine lying open over his face, and Midorima shouting at Murasakibara for getting crumbs on his lucky item. Inevitably, a sweat drop appeared on her forehead.

_A variety indeed._


	8. Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megumi + GoM babies = teeth-rotting fluff.

Kise Ryota hummed to himself as he casually dug through his locker, found what he needed for his first class, and slammed the door shut to reveal a glowering Megumi standing behind it. A strained yelp escaped his mouth, and the blonde boy nearly jumped out of his skin in start.

"Where were you last Friday?" she demanded, not even giving him a proper greeting.

"Eh?" Kise looked down at her, eyebrows creased in puzzlement, "Didn't I tell you I would be at photoshoots last weekend? I left at lunch on Friday."

It was true; Kise did say so, but his lack of specification and planning ahead made Megumi's blood boil, "How fast are you at drawing?"

"Not very fast. But I'm free today to finish it."

 _He's got to be joking._  "Our project is due  _tomorrow_ ," the teal haired girl hissed, meeting his gaze coldly without tilting her head upward. "You have to draw me, but we don't have any other classes together until then, and I have things to do this afternoon!" The look of innocence on Kise's face, as if he didn't understand why she was so uptight about this, pissed Megumi off even more, "If you knew you were going to be gone Friday afternoon, that's your problem. You should have talked to me to get something planned to make up for it."

"I told you I'm free on Monday." At this point, the way Kise's eyes narrowed indicated that he was finally becoming agitated too.

"And I said  _no,_ we are not doing this last minute. Or did you not hear me over the obnoxious voices of your fans?"

"What are you doing this afternoon?"

Megumi's mind immediately labelled going to the practice basketball match as "Favor for a friend."

"You have  _friends_?"

Against all of her will power, Megumi flinched subtly at the tone of disbelief in his voice. She couldn't tell if it was genuine or mocking skepticism, but as she thought back to her general behavior around Kise and people in general, she really shouldn't be surprised that Kise had formed that kind of opinion about her. Mentally admitting that the blonde had a point, however, didn't douse the flames of Megumi's wrath much. "… Yes, I do," she answered carefully, but the caution and lack of confidence in her reply gave Kise the wrong impression.

"Just  _skip_  whatever you're doing," he making a sour expression at her as if his suggestion was obvious.

The hall they stood in was otherwise empty as most students have gone to homeroom. Megumi herself had risked being late by waiting at Kise's locker, but she deemed saving her reputation with her art teacher worth it. No one was around to eavesdrop on their conversation or was too in a hurry to class to care much.

_Fucking two-faced bastard. When we're alone, this is what he's like._

With Kise's words now thrown into the air, Megumi's anger increased tenfold to the point where her voice didn't come out as loudly anymore, "Do you think you're better than me? That I don't have lot of friends, so I should cancel for you convenience, but you didn't have to for me?" Before he could reply, Megumi became more aggressive, taking a threatening step toward him, "I owe someone, so I am  _not_ going to miss the basketball practice match this afternoon even if I have to do your part of the project myself."

Kise scoffed, one of his brows twitching, "So this is all my fault now?"

"My, you finally said something intelligent."

"So mean, Akechi-chan!"

"Drop the '-chan,'" she snapped moodily, her anger making her a lot less tolerant about the suffixes added to her name.

"Why can't you just give me a picture too?"

"The most recent photo I have of myself is from when I was nine."

"Oh."

Megumi sighed loudly, still scowling and looking as if she was through with the conversation, before pulling from her pocket Kise's photo and throwing it back at to its owner unceremoniously. "Here's your photo back," she turned away from him and glared over her shoulder. "It caused me a ridiculous amount of trouble on Friday. If you give a shit about your fans, tell your fans to stay the hell away from me."

A bell rang signaling a minute left before homeroom begins, and Megumi didn't say anymore before hurrying back to her classroom.

_This is why I hate group projects._

* * *

"Sorry, Momoi."

"Hmm? For what, Megu-chan?"

 _Does she seriously not know?_  Megumi internally made an unimpressed face but reluctantly forced herself to just take a deep breath and look away in a moment of hesitation before clarifying, her voice coming out rigid and awkward, "For not showing up at lunch last week when we agreed that we would meet."

The pink haired girl blinked blankly before her face quickly brightened with recognition, "Oh, right! It's okay; you don't have to apologize."

"… It won't happen again."

The cafeteria was crowded at the peak of lunch time (apparently the it was serving a lunch that was a student favorite today, according to Aomine, so lots of people were trying to get a piece of it), and the only reason Megumi was able to find a seat when she arrived at the mess hall was because Momoi saved one for her.

When Megumi asked if it was hard to save the seat, the pink haired girl shook her and replied that people who didn't know him were too scared to sit next to Murasakibara, so if there was one empty seat in the entire mess hall, it would be the one next to the purple giant.

"Ne, Gumi-chin - "

Before he could finish, Megumi, without even looking up, handed him one of the rice balls she'd packed. Afterwards, she pulled out a stack of history homework from her bag along with the textbook and started working on it quietly as she picked at her food like a bird.

Meanwhile, Momoi chatted animatedly with Aomine who sat next to her and tried to engage Murasakibara in the discussion too. "Dai-chan and Mu-kun are going to be on the starting lineup for the practice match today and as first years! That's amazing, isn't it, Megu-chan?"

"That's nice," Megumi answered absently as she wrote something down from the textbook. "What about Akashi or Midorima?"

"Mm…" Momoi hummed, "I think Sanada-san is going to switch them in some time later in the game. After all, this is the first time even a single first year made the first string team on their first try. I'm sure Sanada-san really wants to see what you all can do in a real game. Are you nervous, Dai-chan?"

"It's just  _basketball_ , Satsuki," Aomine leaned back in his chair smiling, and his carefree confidence reminded Megumi of the pure hearted heroes in the books she read. "Just because I'm playing for the school now doesn't mean it's any different from when we used to play street ball."

"Oh," Momoi looked a little sheepish as she played with a stray strand of pink hair in her face, "I guess you're right. Well,  _I'd_  be nervous still."

"…" Murasakibara only chewed on the rice ball happily.

"Mu-kun, don't you have anything to say?"

Murasakibara shrugged passively as he finished off the rice ball, making Megumi blink in astonishment at how quickly he consumed it, "Doesn't really matter to me. It's just an extracurricular activity. As long as we win, it's fine."

"But it's not fun if the opponent is too weak, huh?" Aomine pointed out, gazing up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that, Dai-chan," Momoi chirped in reassurance. "Your opponent today, Himeji Middle School, has a pretty strong reputation. They made it to the semifinals at last year's national tournament."

At that moment, when Megumi looked up from her textbook to reach for her drink, out of the corner of her eyes she saw Kise's bright head of blonde arrive in the cafeteria.

The blonde boy's gaze seemed to be searching as he glanced back and forth around the room, and Megumi instantly knew that he was looking for her.

Sinking lower in her chair, Megumi tried to hide behind Murasakibara, the boy's large frame shielding her easily. "Pretend you're talking to me," she muttered to no one in particular.

"Isn't that what we're doing right now?" Aomine raised an eyebrow, not understanding what was going on.

"Gumi-chin's hiding from someone," Murasakibara observed out loud nonchalantly.

"I'm not  _hiding_!" Megumi hissed, even though that was exactly what she was doing.

Kise approached and seemed to recognize Murasakibara from the other day when the tall boy helped Megumi in the halls. The cursing in Megumi's head got louder as Kise came closer, evidently to ask Murasakibara if he'd seen her.

Megumi covered her face and prepared herself for the showdown that will inevitably occur in seconds once Kise reached her.

Suddenly, just as Kise approached directly next to Murasakibara, the purple haired giant, while holding a half-eaten popsicle in his hand, stood up abruptly and turned around just in time to "accidentally" smear the remainder of the popsicle across the top of Kise's crisp and clean cerulean tie. Before the blonde boy could even process what happened and respond accordingly with alarm, a part of the orange popsicle broke off and went down the front of his shirt which wasn't buttoned completely at the top.

"Oops," the purple haired boy deadpanned.

"What the heck was that?!" Kise demanded, spasming as the cold ice went down his shirt. He frantically struggled to get it out, but that only served to make the ice melt faster, leaving a light orange stain near the bottom of his shirt that matched the one on his tie.

"Sorry," Murasakibara drawled, performing a half-hearted bow of apology before reaching toward Kise with a napkin, "Here, I'll get it off."

Kise, knowing that a napkin would only make the stain worse, wisely leapt back out of Murasakibara's reach. "N-no, don't! It's fine," he let out an agitated breath and pushed his bangs out of his face in exasperation, "I'll clean it myself."

And with that, Kise immediately turned tail and left in a hurry for the bathroom where he could put on his spare change of the Teiko uniform, and Murasakibara sat back down, looking a little satisfied.

Megumi and Aomine stared at the tall boy, wide-eyed, while Momoi's mouth fell open slightly at what she just saw.

Murasakibara picked up his chopsticks casually and continued with his meal. "I sacrificed that popsicle for you, Gumi-chin," he said, snapping Megumi out of her surprised daze. "You'll have to make it up to me later, okay?"

"Th-that's…" Megumi's voice didn't come out as she struggled to come up with a feasible reply, her face heating up with embarrassment. "… okay."

That was the moment Momoi knew, with utter surety and a rush of delight, that Megumi had completely won over Murasakibara.

* * *

When Nijimura asked her to run to the administration office across campus to retrieve a large cardboard box, Megumi had no idea what sort of treasure she was carrying until she got back to the gym, sweating and arms aching, only to be swarmed and nearly stampeded over by a crowd of first string basketball players.

It was only after Nijimura rescued the pint sized Megumi from being crushed by the players (his command over the players was astounding given that he was only a second year and there were plenty of third years on the team; just one shout from Nijimura was enough to make them all take a step away from the cowering Megumi who was sure she was about to die), that the contents of the box were finally revealed to the teal haired girl. Turns out, the box contained the new official Teiko team uniforms for the season.

 _Leave it to sports fanatics to get excited over something like uniforms_ , Megumi couldn't help but think to herself as she and Momoi started passing out the jerseys and shorts according to a sheet that was given to them concerning which jersey number belonged to who.

Jersey numbers nine through twelve went to Akashi, Aomine, Midorima, and Murasakibara respectively, and Megumi was packing up the extra uniforms when some players started taking off their shirts and changing into the jerseys right before her eyes.

The gray eyed girl nearly dropped the box in alarm, and she hastily turned away to avoid watching them. No one had told her about this. This was not what she signed up for when she took the manager position -

"Oi," Nijimura's disapproving tone instantly forced the players to freeze in the middle of changing and look at the captain questioningly. The dark haired man crossed his arms and indicated the locker rooms with a tilt of his chin, "From now on, we change in the locker rooms."

"But we've always just - "

"I don't care how we used to do it. I'm talking about now, so get going. Hurry back."

Reluctantly, the players gathered their things, grumbling slightly as they all made their way to the locker rooms.

Megumi didn't know whether she should be thankful to Nijimura or annoyed with him for making such a big deal for her sake. Yes, she could instantly tell he did it for her because Momoi wasn't affected at all (she's probably seen Aomine shirtless multiple times), and there was literally no other reason to suddenly force the players to change elsewhere. Embarrassed, Megumi decided to just forget about the whole ordeal, but one look at Momoi's cheeky smile told her that the pink haired girl has also figured it out and wasn't going to let it go.

Tensing, the teal haired girl snapped moodily, "What are you looking at, Momoi?"

Momoi giggled quietly, shaking her head, "You know, the players always complain about Nijimura-san being really harsh and demanding, but he really is a good senpai, don't you think? Like a father to everyone in the club."

It didn't take Megumi a moment to realize that that implied she was considered the child in the situation which just took place. Letting out a grumpy "hmph," she turned back to her work.

Amused, Momoi laughed again before one of the extra jerseys smacked into her face from Megumi's direction, which only made her laugh harder.

The girls' banter was interrupted by a knock at the gym door to which Momoi quickly got up to answered while Megumi put the extra jerseys away in a storage room.

"Hello! You must be from Himeji Middle School!" Momoi's cheerful voice could be heard welcoming the opponent team into the building. "Come in, come in, you'll be on that side of the court today. Our team will be ready in a minute."

A loud chorus of "thank you for having us" came from the visiting players.

Once the Teiko members started trickling back into the gym with their uniforms on, each team gathered on one side of the court for a brief warm up before the coach called up the five players that will be on the starting lineup.

Momoi and Megumi sat on the end of the and watched while Sanada-san gave last minute instructions to Aomine, Murasakibara, Nijimura, and two others whose names Megumi didn't know.

"Do your best, everyone!" the pink haired girl called as the players were sent off onto the court. She nudged Megumi insistently, but the gray eyed girl stubbornly kept her mouth shut and did not offer words of encouragement.

Instead, she pulled out a notebook and pencil, appearing ready to take cold notes as she watched the game. It's not like she cared who won. It's just a game, and Megumi had no reason to be emotionally invested in it. Or so she thought.

When the moment of the tip-off came, Murasakibara easily towered over the boy that the other team at chosen and effortlessly smacked the ball down to a waiting teammate's hands.

Already Megumi was feeling a little uninterested, and she mentally prepared herself for the bore of a lifetime. Despite her assumptions, however, she still found herself subconsciously perk up slightly with interest every time minute the ball fell into either Aomine or Murasakibara's hands. She could not deny that she gave slightly more fucks than normal when the attention was on either of those two, but she convinced herself that it wasn't because her miniscule attachment to them had grown - oh no, definitely not - but merely because they were clearly the most skilled players on the court; Aomine in offense and Murasakibara in defense when he really tried hard.

Even someone as kinesthetically dumb as Megumi knew talent when she saw it. Aomine notably moved with more fluidity and ease than the others, as if the court was his natural habitat and the ball was an extension of his body. Given his size, Murasakibara's reaction time was as astounding to the opponent team as it was to Megumi. When Himeji's power forward managed to score around the giant, Murasakibara appeared to get a little annoyed and became remarkably more serious the next time the same power forward had the ball.

By the time the first quarter ended, Megumi's notebook page contained mainly observations about Aomine and Murasakibara alone and a few miniature sketches of the blue haired boy's strange, unconventional form.

Teiko was in the lead by twenty points by halftime and during the break, Akashi and Midorima were called from the bench to substitute in while Aomine and Murasakibara subbed out.

Megumi immediately snapped her notebook shut to hide what she wrote when Aomine, chugging a water bottle and wiping his neck with a towel, sat down beside her.

"That was amazing, Dai-chan!" Momoi chirped. "Even Megu-chan was impressed!"

"I was not!" Megumi denied it instinctively but then proceeded to mutter under her breath, "And even if I was, it's not like I have high standards to begin with. What do I know about basketball anyway?" A shadow fell over Megumi, and she looked up to find Nijimura looming over her, a towel around his shoulders and water bottle in hand.

"You'll get to know it pretty damn well by the time you're done here," he said, bringing the bottle to his lips. "Teiko itself is already famous for athletics, but the basketball team alone is the our school's pride. We're not just playing to play; our mission is to  _win_."

Megumi looked past Nijimura, and her gaze focused on the bright red banner hanging proudly from the spectator stands behind him, bearing the phrase "Ever Victorious" in dark, bold calligraphy. She'd never really cared for cheesy team mottos and such but as she looked up at Nijimura and the imposing banner behind him, she established to herself two things; one, that the pride of Teiko was far from empty and two, that if she was Teiko's opponent she would be afraid.

* * *

Teiko beat Himeji with a score of 96 - 80 and by six o' clock at night, the visitor team had cleared out, the court was properly cleaned, and the coaches had locked up the gym buildings.

Megumi didn't ask to be dragged into the get together after the practice match. Momoi completely tricked her into it, saying it was just going to be her and Dai-chan walking Megumi home, but when the teal haired girl saw the small cluster of rainbow-haired boys waiting at the school gate in the distance (she couldn't help but mentally snort at how ridiculous they all looked together, like an assortment of M&Ms), she immediately tried to backpedal out of the situation.

"Megu-chan, we're getting ice cream! I'll pay for you if you want."

"No. One, it's a highly unhealthy food no matter how much milk is in it. Two, it's April, too early to be eating ice cream when the weather may still get cold unexpectedly. Three, I should go home because my crappy art partner - "

"Oh good, Gumi-chin's coming too," Murasakibara drawled as he caught sight of the girls approaching. "This means we can get the discount."

As Megumi sputtered, stopping her one-sided argument with Momoi in favor of trying to correct Murasakibara's assumption, Akashi raised an eyebrow curiously, "Discount?"

"Mm-hmm," the purpled haired giant nodded at Akashi with a lazy smile, not paying attention to the teal-haired girl's excuses. "The convenience store on 22nd street gives you a discount on the ice cream machines if you have a party of six or more."

"Really?" Momoi's face brightened and her hold of Megumi's arm tightened with determination. "This is perfect then!"

Megumi blinked at Akashi dully and asked with a little too much skepticism, " _You're_  coming too?"

Something seemed weird about Akashi going to a convenience store for ice cream with all of them. He didn't belong in a convenience store, and standing on the side of the road eating cheap ice cream on a school night suited him even less.

"Yes, is that a problem?" Akashi tilted his head at her.

As she hesitated, she silently watched Akashi for a few seconds that seemed longer than it actually was before carefully muttering, "…No."

"I don't recall ever agreeing to this," Midorima closed his eyes and gave his glasses a readjusting push. "It's a school night, nanodayo."

"Come on, Midorima, celebrate with us," Aomine amicably slung an arm, much to Midorima's dismay, around the green haired boy's shoulders and started steering him out of the gates, "You were awesome in today's practice match too, you know."

And with that, the group of students left the school courtyard with Aomine dragging Midorima along in the front followed by Akashi and Murasakibara, who appeared to get along wonderfully, and then lastly Momoi towing Megumi in the back.

The convenience store they went to was on the corner of two busy streets, and Murasakibara walked in casually as if he knew the owner and immediately made a run for the vacant ice cream machines. The rest of the group followed and Megumi, tired and lacking even an ounce of resistance in her at this point, decided to simply go along with their antics.

She gingerly picked up the smallest sundae cup she could find and hesitantly looked over each ice cream flavor, wondering which one would cause the least amount of damage to her health.

"Having trouble making up your mind?" Akashi asked, appearing beside her in order to get some of the mint chocolate flavor ice cream that she was just inspecting.

"I don't really eat ice cream," Megumi admitted reluctantly.

"I don't either, at least not this sort," Akashi smiled understandingly, and Megumi wondered what "sort" he did eat. "Murasakibara recommended some for me, and I'm sure he'd be willing to do the same for you."

"Does Gumi-chin need help?" said boy came up behind Megumi, casting his shadow over her and Akashi.

Megumi reluctantly nodded and handed her sundae cup over to Murasakibara who appeared to ponder for a moment before determinedly marching away to find a flavor that the gray eyed girl would like.

Once they paid for the food and got that discount that Murasakibara and Momoi were so excited about, the six of them gathered outside the convenience store where the air was comfortably breezy and the sound of the cars passing by was enough to make the environment lively.

Murasakibara handed Megumi the ice cream he had chosen for her and was about to start eating his own when Momoi stopped him.

"Wait, Mu-kun!" the pink haired girl scolded. "We need to do a cheer or something first!"

"Why~?" the tall boy drawled blankly.

"Because today is really special," Momoi smiled as she looked around at them. "You played your first practice match together and won against one of last year's semi-finalists! That's a pretty big deal that's deserving of a cheer."

"We're doing it right here?" Megumi asked skeptically as she gazed around at the people walking past them and the cars stopping at the red traffic light.

"If this is really such a special occasion, why are we celebrating it in the middle of the street nanodayo?" Midorima agreed.

Momoi pouted, "Well, it's either here or inside the convenience store. Which one would  _you_  rather do it in?"

"Just hurry it up, Satsuki. The ice cream is melting," Aomine complained.

"Okay, okay, I'll do it right now, so everyone…" she motioned for them to follow her lead, "To today's win and to many more amazing games together with this team."

Everyone clinked their ice cream cups together gave a little "hurrah," some more enthusiastic than others.

"You didn't have to get that sentimental, Satsuki," Aomine teased as he started working on his food which was already melting down the side of its container.

"But I meant it though! I want us all to keep being friends and playing basketball together. There's still lots more practice matches, then the National Tournament in a few months, and that's only in our first year."

"Imagine if we win the championships every year we're play for Teiko," Aomine proposed lightheartedly, but the ambitious light in his eyes told Megumi that he was only half joking.

"Shall we make that our collective goal?" Akashi suggested, voicing the audacious thought that all of the players around him were entertaining at the back of their minds.

"Eh?" Aomine froze in surprise, as he had no idea anyone would take him seriously, and sheepishly tried to backpedal, "It was just a loose thought, really. You guys don't have to take it so seriously - "

Midorima shook his head, "What you have proposed is actually quite interesting."

"I agree," Akashi smiled, "If we do manage to pull off three consecutive championship wins, let's all meet here again to celebrate it."

Seeming to like that idea very much, Momoi gave a cheer and pulled Aomine and Megumi closer to her.

The blue haired boy smiled in a defeated way as his protests did little to stop his friends from seriously considering his idea, but he didn't regret tossing it out there for discussion either. Whether he was willing to admit it or not, these sorts of promises pumped him up, and he was suddenly looking forward to the next game even more than he normally would. "When's our next practice match?"

Before Momoi could pull up the schedule from her bag to see, Megumi, who still regarded the ice cream Murasakibara gave her with suspicion, answered absentmindedly, "April 20th this Friday against Aoi Middle School. After that is April 25th against Takashima Middle School, then April 27th against Ohyama, then May 7th against Akari Middle School."

Momoi curiously produced her copy of the games schedule and scanned over it quickly to see if Megumi was correct. "She's right…" she concluded, looking up with wonder.

Aomine smiled smugly and slung an arm around Megumi's thin shoulders, nearly knocking her over, "You're getting pretty serious about being our manager, aren't you?"

"Don't get the wrong idea," Megumi frowned a little, shutting him down quickly. "I just glanced the schedule over a few times. Anyone can memorize that." After weakly shoving Aomine off of her, she looked up to see Akashi staring at her with calculating eyes that lacked his usual warmth for a moment. "Akashi…?"

As quickly as it had left, the hospitality and patience in the red haired boy's eyes returned, and he smiled reassuringly, "It's nothing. Please, don't mind me, Akechi."

Megumi was reluctant to let the subject drop, and she opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by the sound of a car stopping right next to them on the road.

The six middle schoolers went quiet as their attention was drawn to a neatly dressed middle aged man coming out of the driver's side of the rather expensive-looking, spotlessly clean car and approaching them. The man arrived so unexpectedly that Aomine instinctively moved in front of Momoi, but Akashi stepped forward to meet the stranger.

"Oh, young master!" the chauffeur exclaimed when Akashi went to him.

"Hello, Ueda-san," Akashi greeted with his usual politeness although his entire form seemed to stiffen a bit as he conversed with the man.

"I've finally found you, young master. I know you said that you'll finish with your friends by seven, but your father wants you home at once," Ueda-san the driver explained, occasionally glancing over at Megumi and the others with a sheepish expression as if he's apologizing that he has to take Akashi from them.

Akashi hesitated for a hardly noticeable split second before he replied, "Of course. Sorry for making you search for me."

Megumi gaped at the expensive car, the personal chauffeur, and the way he called Akashi "young master." No one had told her. Not a word. She had no clue, but now it all made sense how Akashi carried himself, his manners, and his aura that screamed " _does not belong in a convenience store_."

The red haired boy turned back to them, looking slightly apologetic, "I'm afraid I must be going home now. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Excuse me."

As he entered the car through the door that the driver held open for him, Megumi felt that there was something very lonely about him entering that large and dark car by himself, but she couldn't see his face for long before the chauffeur closed the door and the tinted windows only reflected her image.

Ueda-san quickly turned back to the middle schoolers and gave a hasty bow, "You must be the young master's friends. Thank you for looking after him." Then, he hurried back into the driver's seat, and the sleek black automobile pulled away from the curb, joining the evening traffic.

The remaining five students stood quietly for a moment after Akashi's car left.

Finally, Momoi broke the silence with a hint of worry in her voice, "Do you think Akashi-kun will be okay? It sounded really urgent. Maybe we shouldn't have asked him to come with us…"

"I should be going home too," Midorima informed, eating the last bit of his ice cream and easily tossing the empty container into a trash can a few meters away. "Aomine, you do understand that Royama-sensei is expecting our history papers due tomorrow, right?"

"Huh?" The clueless Aomine stared at the bespectacled boy in confusion before realization dawned on him. "Crap."

Midorima sighed and rolled his eyes before turning to go.

"I guess we'd better start heading back too." Momoi appeared a little disappointed that the party was over so quickly, but she flashed a bright smile at Murasakibara, "Want to walk home with us, Mu-kun?"

"Mmm… sure," the purple haired boy looked down at his empty ice cream cup sadly before throwing it away and following the others down the sidewalk. "Aka-chin sure is lucky. He has a personal driver and everything. Must be nice being so rich…" he complained after only less than a minute of walking.

"You knew?" Megumi demanded, "Why didn't you tell  _me_?"

"Because Gumi-chin never asked," the purpled haired boy shrugged innocently.

"Is it really that big of a surprise?" Aomine asked which only made Megumi feel even stupider because even Aomine  _of all people_  picked up on it before she did. "His family name is low-key famous."

"Never heard of it," Megumi deadpanned.

"Well, that's because Megu-chan doesn't really get out much."

"Did Midorima know?"

Momoi nodded.

In other words, Megumi was truly the most ignorant of them all. The teal haired girl made a "tch" noise and turned her head away moodily.

"Why does it matter so much to you anyway, Megu-chan?"

"I-I was just surprised, nothing more."

"About what? Akashi-kun being wealthy? I thought it was obvious by the way he acts."

"No, nevermind," Megumi wished Momoi would stop making her feel dumb by rubbing the obviousness of Akashi's family wealth in her face. Granted, if Megumi had known Akashi's background, she might have been more careful while interacting with him but it wasn't so much the fact that Akashi came from a wealthy family that was surprising but rather the realization that not even once since they'd met did Akashi ever make Megumi feel inferior. Even when he destroyed her in shogi every time, Megumi never felt as if she was being looked down on. She was just surprised that, ironically, someone with that kind of status treated someone like her with more respect than just about every other person she'd met so far in middle school.

When Megumi arrived home, she sighed loudly to the empty house as she remembered that she still had to do Kise's portion of their art project. After taking her art supplies to her room, she turned on the light on her desk, pulled up a mirror for reference, started drawing herself, and waited for her mother to come home.


End file.
